7' ZWx, 



DISCOVERY 

OF 

THE AUTHOR 

OF 

THE LETTERS OF JUNIUS, 

FOUNDED ON SUCH 

EVIDENCE AND ILLUSTRATIONS 

A3 EXPLAIN 

ALL THE MYSTERIOUS CIRCUMSTANCES 

AND APPARENT CONTRADICTIONS 

WHICH HAVE 

CONTRIBUTED TO THE CONCEALMENT 

OF THIS 

" MOST IMPORTANT SECRET OF OVft TIMES/ 1 




LONDON: 

PRINTED FOR TAYLOR AND HESSEY, 93, FLEET-STREE 
.1813. 



• F 



T. Davison, Whitefnars, 
■London. 



A 

DISCOVERY, 



The late republication of the letters of Junius 
has again drawn the attention of the public to 
the discovery of the author. The additional 
information it contained was expected to lead 
to the developement of the secret. Inquiry 
was accordingly renewed with even more zeal 
than ever : many conjectures were revived that 
were long ago proved to be groundless ; and 
some new ones offered which appear to be as 
little entitled to attention. Whether the opi- 
nion we maintain, resting, as it does, on circum- 
stantial evidence, be deserving of more con- 
sideration, must be left to the decision of the 
public. We can only say that if it fail, it will 
not be for want of reasons in its favour, far 
stronger than any that have yet been offered in 
support of other opinions. 

We did not sit down to the perusal of Junius 
with any expectation of discovering the author. 



l¥- 



10/ 



The idea we have formed was suggested by- 
some of the letters at the end of the work ; 
and, when once entertained, so many other 
reasons offered in its support, that we were 
induced to extend our inquiry. One circum- 
stance after another added strength to the 
conjecture, till at length we were compelled to 
believe it was correct. Subsequent information 
tended to confirm the first impression, and to 
produce in our minds so entire a conviction, as 
led us to think a statement of the evidence 
would not be unacceptable to the public. 

It may be one recommendation of the follow- 
ing pages, that the discovery they profess to 
make has novelty in it. We attribute the pro- 
■ duction to two gentlemen, neither of whom, as 
far as our knowledge extends, has ever been 
surmised to be the author. The death of the 
one, and the absence of the other, by removing 
them from the public eye, might be the reason 
of their not being suspected. As politicians, 
indeed, they were not at that time so conspicu- 
ous as to excite general attention. The father 
was in the decline of life, unaccustomed, under 
his own name, to appear as a political writer ; 
and though the son was speedily distinguished 
for talents and virtues of the first order, yet 
they were displayed at such a-distance from his 



native country, that no one appears to have 
recognised in them any traces of the character 
of Junius. 

In attributing the letters to these gentlemen, 
we beg to remark, that every mystery in the 
conduct and character of Junius will be ex- 
plained by proofs adduced from documents 
already before the public. We have no oppor- 
tunity of acquiring secret intelligence. Our 
biographical accounts are extracted from works 
which were written, of course, without any 
design to give currency or weight to the 
opinion we have formed. We lament that our 
materials are in consequence so scanty ; but 
while, on the one hand, this was a subject of 
regret, it conduced, on the other, to strengthen 
our suspicions. For almost every fact that has 
come to our knowledge has been decidedly 
favourable to our conjecture ; and in no single 
instance have we met with a circumstance that 
in the least militates against it. 

When a correct opinion has been formed, 
every little incident tends to its confirmation. 
Thus, the apparent contradictions in the cha- 
racter of Junius, which have been utterly irre- 
concileable with any supposition that has hither- 
to been formed of the author, are of material 
service in the present case. That Junius ap- 



pears, at various times, to be an Old Man, an 
Irishman, a Lawyer, a Soldier, a Courtier, a 
Statesman, a Divine, and again not one of all 
these, has been sufficient to baffle the most 
pertinacious inquirer. Yet all these seeming 
inconsistencies may be satisfactorily explained ; 
and if upon the meagre evidence which is acci- 
dentally contained in books these things may 
be accounted for, how much more may not be 
expected from the disclosures of those, who had 
the honour and the happiness to be intimately 
acquainted with the parties ? 

That Junius was a fictitious character, as well 
as a fictitious name, has been remarked by 
Dr. Girdlestone. The remark is ingenious. It 
is supported by the motto to the work, as well 
as by the express declaration of Junius. Our 
author was not accustomed to employ words 
lightly. " I weigh every word, and every altera- 
tion, in my eyes at least, is a blemish *." There 
is a latent force in many of his expressions that 
is still more severe than their obvious meaning; 
and it might be expected, that a motto selected 
by himself would contain some secret allusion 
— some indirect application to the author, 
which, when the secret was disclosed, would be 

• Woodfall's edit, of Junius, vol. i. p. 240. 



strikingly apparent. The fictitious character, 
the absolute non-entity of the man, was the 
circumstance hinted at in the words " Stat 
nominis umbra/' It was idle, and beneath 
Junius, to tell the world that he employed a 
great name merely as a stalking-horse — the fact 
was evident. Besides, he would then have 
given the entire phrase, stat magni nominis 
umbra, but the omission shews that this was 
not his purpose. It is not magni, but umbra, 
which is the emphatic word ; and thus the 
shadow of a name has another meaning attached 
to it. The word imbra proves that the secret 
Junius was himself a shadow, an ideal character, 
hidden beneath a fictitious name — in fact, the 
shadow of a shade; for a name is but the 
shadow of a substance, and our Junius was him- 
self but the shadow of a name. 

The supposition of a fictitious character 
receives support from various passages in our 
author's coirespondence. 

" I have faithfully served the public without the possi- 
bility of a personal advantage. As JUNIUS, I can never 
expect to be rewarded." 

Letter to Wilkes, v. i. p. * 295. 

" As to Junius, I must wait for fresh matter, as this is 
a character which must be kept up with credit." 

Letter to Woodfall, v. i. p. *198, 



8 



ee He asserts that he has traced me through a variety 
of signatures.. To make the discovery of any importance 
to his purpose, he should have proved, either that the 
fictitious character of Junius has not been consistently 
supported, or that the author has maintained different 
principles under different signatures. I cannot recall to 
my memory the numberless trifles I have written j but 
I rely upon the consciousness of my own integrity, and 
defy him to fix any colourable charge of inconsistency 
upon me." 

Letter to Home, v. i. p. 307. 

There are several passages in the letters of 
Junius which have always been supposed to be 

«*» directly contradictory to each other. Were 
this in fact the case, it might admit of an 
excuse in a writer whose life perhaps depended 
on the concealment of his name. But to the 
noble mind of Junius falsehood was a stranger ; 
and so far from resorting to such meanness for 
protection, he defies his enemies to fix upon 
him a any colourable charge of inconsistency,' ' 
even in any of the trifles he had written. 

An author so jealous of his honour is not 
likely to have been guilty of unnecessary pre- 
varication : yet if we imagine that Junius was 
some single person, how can he escape the 

— charge ? If, on the contrary, we admit that two 
persons were concerned in the formation of this 
one fictitious character, the difficulty is removed. 
There is then no inconsistency in expressions. 



which in any other view it is impossible to re- 
concile with each other. 

Thus, when the mystical Junius declares in his 
dedication, " I am the sole depositary of my - 
own secret, and it shall perish with lne, ,, we 
can acknowledge that under that name he speaks 
the truth ; and yet that the following extracts 
from his letters to Woodfall are in perfect con- 
sistency with such a declaration. 

" The gentleman who transacts the conveyancing part - 
of our correspondence tells me there was much difficulty 
last night." 

Vol. i. p. *246. 

" The last letter you printed was idle and improper, 
and I assure you printed against my own opinion. The 
truth is, there are people about me whom I would wish 
not to contradict, and who would rather see Junius in the 
papers ever so improperly than not at all. I wish it could 
be recalled. Suppose you were to say, — We have some 
reason to suspect that the last letter signed Junius, in this 
paper j was not written by the real Junius, though the ob- 
servation escaped us at the time; or if you can hit off any 
thing yourself more plausible, you will much oblige me ; 
but without a positive assertion. Don't let it be the same 
day with the enclosed. " 

Vol. i. p. *198. 

The letter in question was clearly written 
by only one of the persons composing the cha- 
racter of Junius, without the assistance or con- 
currence of the other. He might therefore, 



10 

without any inconsistency say, it " was not 
written by the real Junius" to whose existence 
the united minds of both the writers were essen- 
tial. 

With this explanation the veracity of Junius 
stands unimpeachable. If under other signatures 
expressions are used which appear inconsistent 
with each other, the slightest consideration will 
serve to explain them. — Thus the epithet, " We 
soldiers," in the following extract, is conform- 
able to the signature affixed to that letter. 

" My Lord, the rest of the world laugh at your choice; 
but we soldiers feel it as an indignity to the whole army, 
and be assured we shall resent it accordingly " 

Vol, iii. p. 424*. 

It is no inconsistency in Veteran to use this 
phrase, though Lucius (vol. iii. p. 154.) says to 
Lord Hillsborough, c < I am no soldier, my 
Lord." — The character, whatever it be, must 
be supported, and the inconsistency would be 
justly chargeable on the writer, if this were 
neglected to be done. 

In the like manner, Scotus (vol. iii. p. 447.) 
is correct in saying, " I am a Scotchman." But 
no one, surely, can think it necessary to object 
to phrases such as these. 

Having made these few preliminary remarks, 

we now proceed to shew that [all the circum- 

"^ stances of time and place, talents and character. 



11 

conspire to prove that Dr. Francis, and his son 
the present Si r Philip Francis, were the authors 
of the Letters of J uniusD And though the style 
of one person, when corrected and qualified by 
the taste of another, must vary in some degree 
from other specimens of that writer's usual man- 
ner, we shall, in addition to our other proofs, 
exhibit some remarkable coincidences of expres- 
sion in the writings of these gentlemen and of 
Junius. 

The circumstances most material to be first 
determined are those of time and place. We 
shall therefore shew, (that Dr. Francis and his 
Son were in London, or its immediate neigh- 
bourhood, during the period in which these 
letters were written ; and that they were in si- 
tuations favourable for obtaining that informa- 
tion which Junius was so remarkable for pos- 
sessing. 3 

'The Miscellaneous Letters ascribed to Junius 
in Mr. Woodfall's last edition extend from 
April 28, 1767, to May 12, 1772; the letters 
signed Junius, from January 21,1 76y, to January 
21, 1772; the Private Letters to Mr. Wilkes, 
from August 21, to November 9, 1771 ; and the 
Private Letters to Woodfall commence on April 
20, 1769, and close on January 19, 1773 A 



12 

Thus the whole of the letters attributed to 
Junius were written between the dates of April 
28, 1767, and January 19, 1773. 

Dr. Francis died a+ Bath on the fifth of March, 
1773. For several years previous to his death 
he had resided in or near London. — His son 
was born about the year 1748 *. In 1773, he 
was appointed one of the Commissioners for the 
Government of India. He sailed from England 
in the spring of 1774. 

There is nothing, therefore, in the time when 
these Letters were written that opposes the opi- 
nion we have expressed. Dr. Francis lived 
three months after the date of the last private 
communication of Junius, and ten months after 
the appearance of his last miscellaneous letter. 
The latest of the acknowledged Letters of Junius 
was published fourteen months before his death. 
Sir Philip Francis did not leave England until 
a twelvemonth after the date of the last commu- 
nication, of any description, that can be traced to 
Junius. 

But while there is nothing in this evidence 
that contradicts our assertion, we must be al- 
lowed to remark, that the sudden and total dis- 
appearance of Junius at this crisis is no light 

* Pub. Char. I8O9. 



13 

presumption in its favour. Had Junius written^ 
after the death of Dr. Francis, and the departure 
of Sir Philip, there would be an end of our pre- 
sent inquiry. Or if Sir Philip had continued in 
England, and Dr. Francis had lived any consi- 
derable time after Junius had ceased to write, 
appearances would not have been so strongly in 
our favour. Under all the circumstances, we 
may certainly consider the time and place as 
affording some proofs of the correctness of our 
suggestion. 

But Junius not only continued to write for 
the space of five years, and then ceased alto* 
gether : his labour was incessant during that 
period. " From January, 1769, to January, 
1772, he uniformly resided in London, or its 
immediate vicinity, and never quitted his stated 
habitation for a longer period than a few weeks." 
- — Prel. Ess. p. *47- We have reason to believe, 
from various circumstances, that Dr. Francis, 
during all this time, lived in or near town. — That 
his son was an inhabitant of the metropolis for 
the same term may be inferred from the follow- 
ing account. " He was born about the year 
1748, and was bred at St. Paul's school, under 
Mr. Thicknesse, the brother of the governor of 
the same name, who was allowed to be a man of 
great learning and talents. At an early period 



14 

of his life, in consequence of the influence of his 
father, Philip was patronized by the late Lord 
Barrington, who at that time presided at the 
War- Office, and by whom he was first introduced 
into public business in that department." * 

Lord Barrington was appointed Secretary at 
War in 1765. As Sir Philip was introduced 
into the War-Office at an early period of life, it 
probably took place soon after the appointment 
of his patron, at which time he was seventeen 
} 7 ears of age. He continued in this department 
until he was expelled by Lord Barrington in 
March 1772. — Junius, v. iii. p. 445. 

We have great reason then to conclude, that 
so long as Junius was known to be confined to 
London, or its immediate vicinity, Mr. Philip 
Francis held a situation at the War- Office, which 
necessarily required his constant residence in 
town. When the latter was released from this 
constraint, the Letters of Junius immediately 
evince that he himself indulged in a corre- 
spondent relaxation. So completely, indeed, 
does the parallel hold between the situation and 
peculiar circumstances of JuNiusand Mr. Philip 
Francis, that when the latter finally quitted the 
War-Office, the former entirely gave up his poli- 
tical lucubrations. 

* Pub, Char. \&Cg. 



15 

Favourable as these coincidences are to our 
general supposition, the connection of Sir Philip 
with the War-Office affords still stronger evidence 
of its truth. 

Junius was remarkably distinguished for his 
particular knowledge of the minor concerns of 
the army. Malone mentions this fact as a rea- 
son why Mr. Secretary Hamilton could not have 
been the author of the Letters. " He had none 
of that minute commissarial knowledge of petty 
military matters which is displayed in some of 
the earlier papers of Junius." — Prel. Essay > 
p. *117. 

These expressions very happily designate that 
species of knowledge which a chief clerk in the 
War- Office would naturally acquire. — Let us see 
how this applies to the Letters of Junius. 

In his first Letter, Junius animadverts on the 
conduct of the Commander in Chief, for " ne- 
glecting the merit and services of the rest of the 
army, to heap promotions upon his favourites 
and dependents." — cc If the discipline of the 
army be in any degree preserved, what thanks," 
he asks, " are due to a man, whose cares, notori- 
ously confined to filling up vacancies, have de- 
graded the office of Commander in Chief to a 
broker of commissions ?" 



16 

In reply to Sir William Draper's vindication 
of Lord Granby, the second Letter of Junius 
contains the following passages : 

" You say, he has acquired nothing but honour in the 
field. Is the Ordnance nothing ? Are the Blues nothing ? 
Is the command of the army, with all the patronage an- 
nexed to it, nothing ? Where he got these nothings I 
know not ; but you at least ought to have told us when 
he deserved them. 

" As to his bounty, compassion, &c. it would have 
been but little to the purpose, though you had proved all 
that you have asserted. I meddle with nothing but his 
character as Commander in Chief: and though I acquit 
him of the baseness of selling commissions, I still assert 
that his military cares have never extended beyond the 
disposal of vacancies; and I am justified by the complaints 
of the whole army, when I say that, in this distribution, 
he consults nothing but parliamentary interests, or the 
gratification of his immediate dependents. As to his ser- 
vile submission to the reigning ministry, let me ask, whe- 
ther he did not desert the cause of the whole army, when 
he suffered Sir Jeffery Amherst to be sacrificed, and what 
share he had in recalling that officer to the service ? Did 
he not betray the just interest of the army, in permitting 
Lord Pe'rcy to have a regiment ? And does he not at 
this moment give up all character and dignity as a gen- 
tleman, in receding from his own repeated declarations 
in favour of Mr. Wilkes ?" — 

" The last charge, of the neglect of the army, is indeed 
the most material of all. I am sorry to tell you, Sir Wil- 
liam, that in this article your first fact is false : and as 
there is nothing more painful to me than to give a direct 



V 



17 

contradiction to a gentleman of your appearance, I could 
wish that, in your future publications, you would pay a 
greater attention to the truth of your premises, before 
you suffer your genius to hurry you to a conclusion. Lord 
Ligonier did not deliver the army, (which you, in classical 
language, are pleased to call a palladium) into Lord Gran- 
by's hands. It was taken from him much against his 
inclination, some two or three years before Lord Granby 
was Commander in Chief. As to the state of the army, 
1 should be glad to know where you have received your 
intelligence. Was it in the rooms at Bath, or at your re- 
treat at Clifton ? The reports of the reviewing generals 
comprehend only a few regiments in England, which, as 
they are immediately under the royal inspection, are, 
perhaps, in some tolerable order. But do you know any 
thing of the troops in the West Indies, the Mediterranean, 
and North America, to say nothing of a whole army ab- 
solutely ruined in Ireland ? Enquire a little into facts, 
Sir William, before you publish your next panegyric 
upon Lord Granby ; and believe me, you will find there 
is a fault at head-quarters, which even the acknowledged 
care and abilities of the adjutant- general cannot correct." 

Vol. i. pp. 74, 75, 76. 

The subsequent fetters of Junius to Sir Wil- 
liam Draper display many more proofs of this 
" minute commifsarial knowledge." 

" In exchange for your regiment, you accepted of a 
colonel's half-pay, (at least 2201. a year,) and an annuity of 
2001. for your own and Lady Draper's life jointly. And 
is this the losing bargain which you would represent to 

C 




18 



us, as if you had given up an income of 8001. a year for 
5801. ?" 

Junius, vol. i. p. 97. 

" When you receive your half-pay, do you, or do you 
not, take a solemn oath, or sign a declaration upon your 
honour, to the following effect ? That you do not ac- 
tually hold anyplace of profit, civil or military, under his 
Majesty, 

Junius, vol. i. p. 98: 

" You were appointed (greatly out of your turn) to 
the command of a regiment, and, during that administra- 
tion, we heard no more of Sir William Draper.'* 

Junius, vol. ii. p. 7, 



The rescue of Major General Gansel is the 
next subject whereon the Letters of Junius dis- 
play any minute knowledge of military matters. 

It may readily be imagined that a clerk in the 
War-Office must know every particular of this 
transaction ; and it is highly probable that he 
would himself behold it, as it took place at the 
Horse-Guards. 

Junius details the affair with a minuteness 
that proves he was an eye-witness of it. Every 
little circumstance is marked in his account with 
the precision of a picture painted on the spot. 

u A major-general of the army is arrested by the 
sheriff's officers for a considerable debt. He persuade* 



19 

them to conduct him to the Tilt-yard in St. James's Park, 
under some pretence of business, which it imported him 
to settle before he was confined. He applies to a serjeant, 
not immediately on duty, to assist with some of his com- 
panions in favouring his escape. He attempts it. A bus- 
tle ensues. * An officer of the guards, not then on duty, 
takes part in the affair, applies to the f lieutenant, com- 
manding the Tilt-yard guard, and urges him to turn out 
his guard to relieve a general officer. The lieutenant 
declines interfering in person ; but stands at a distance, 
and suffers the business to be done. The other officer 
takes upon himself to order out the guard. In a moment 
they are in arms, quit their guard, march, rescue the ge- 
neral, and drive away the sheriff's officers, who in vain 
represent their right to the prisoner, and the nature of 
the arrest. The soldiers first conduct the general into 
their guard-room, — then escort him to" a place of safety 
with bayonets fixed, and in all the forms of military 
triumph/' 

Junius, vol. ii. p. 37. 

In commenting upon this transaction Junius 
thus proceeds. 

- " A lieutenant upon duty designedly quits his guard, 
and suffers it to be drawn out by another officer, for a 
purpose, which he well knew (as we may collect from an 
appearance of caution, which only makes his behaviour 
the more criminal,) to be in the highest degree illegal. 
Has this gentleman been called to a court-martial to an- 
swer for his conduct ? No. Has it been censured ? No* 
Has it been in any shape enquired into ? No. Another 

* Lieutenant Dodd. t Lieutenant Garth, 

c 2 



2.0 



lieutenant not upon duty, nor even in his regimentals, is 
daring enough to order out the King's guard, over which 
he had properly no command, and engages them in a 
violation of the laws of his country, perhaps the most sin- 
gular and extravagant that ever was attempted. What 
punishment has he suffered ? Literally none/' 

Junius, vol. ii. p. 40. 

" I know, indeed, that when this affair happened, an 
affectation of alarm ran through the ministry. Something 
must be done to save appearances. The case was too 
flagrant to be passed by absolutely without notice. But. 
how have they acted ? Instead of ordering the officers con- 
cerned (and who, strictly speaking, are alone guilty,) to 
be put under arrest, and brought to trial, they would have 
it understood that they did their duty completely, in con- 
fining a serjeant and four private soldiers, until they 
should be demanded by the civil power. So that, while 
the officers who ordered or permitted the thing to be 
done escape without censure, the poor men who obeyed 
those orders, who in a military view are no way respon- 
sible for what they did, and who for that reason have 
been discharged by the civil magistrates, are the only ob- 
jects whom the ministry have thought proper to expose 
to punishment. They did not venture to bring even 
these men to a court-martial, because they knew their 
evidence would be fatal to some persons whom they were 
determined to protect." 

Junius, vol. ii. pp. 42, 43. 



Under the signature of X. X. in the Miscella- 
neous Letters, Junius again shews his acquaint- 



21 



ance with every circumstance connected with 
this adventure. 

" Is Captain Garth, who deserted his guard at noon- 
day, an equerry to the Duke of Cumberland ? Did he not 
leave the command of his guard to a person who had as 
little right to take it as Buckhorse, and is he, or is he not, 
protected by his Royal Highness ? — Is not Captain Dodd 
the old friend of Henry Lawes Luttrell, and the son 
of the oldest and most intimate crony of Lord Irnham ? 
Have either of the parties denied any one of the facts 
stated by Junius ? — Has not Colonel Salter been ordered 
to hold his peace ? — Has not "William Viscount Barring- 
ton, Secretary at War, most infamously neglected his 
duty, in not moving the king to order a court-martial for 
the trial of these offenders ? And has hot the Adjutant- 
general publicly and repeatedly, though in vain, repre- 
sented that they ought to be cashiered ? What will the flat 
general contradiction of an anonymous writer avail against 
circumstances so particular, so well vouched, that the par- 
ties most concerned are ashamed or afraid to deny them ? 
How is Junius to prove his facts, but by such a particula- 
rity and precision in the state of them, that no man, who 
knows any thing of the matter, will venture to dispute 
the truth of them ?" 

Junius, vol. iii. p. 240. 



The fact next stated by Junius is the sale of 
a patent place in the collection of the customs 
at Exeter. The place was given by the Duke 
of Grafton to Colonel Burgoyne, who sold it, 
according to Junius, for 3,500/. which sum he 



affirms was paid to Colonel Burgoyne with the 
connivance and consent of the Duke, — In the 
same letter Junius announces the promotion of 
the Colonel to a military government, the go- 
vernment of Fort St. George ; which promotion, 
it seems, took place " only a few days before 
the date of this letter."— Vide vol. ii. p. 58. note. 

The statement given. by Junius of the appoint- 
ment of Lieut. Colonel Luttrell to be Adjutant- 
general to the army in Ireland is as minute as 
any of the preceding. 

" This infamous transaction ought to be explained to 
the Public. Colonel Gisborne was Quaster-master-ge- 
neral in Ireland. Lord Townshend persuades him to resign 
to a Scotch officer, one Fraser, and gives him the go- 
vernment of Kinsale. 

" Colonel Cuninghame was Adjutant-general in Ire- 
land. Lord Townshend offers him a pension to induce 
him to resign to Luttrell. Cuninghame treats the offer 
with contempt. "What's to be done ? poor Gisborne must 
move once more. He accepts of a pension of 500/. 
a year, until a government of greater value shall become 
vacant. Colonel Cuninghame is made Governor of Kin- 
sale, and Luttrell at last, for whom the whole machinery 
is put in motion, becomes Adjutant-general, and, in ef- 
fect, takes the command of the army in Ireland." 

Junius, vol. ii. p. 156. 

But the intelligence that Colonel Luttrell had 
accepted this appointment was unconfirmed. 



23 

And Junius felt himself a few days after com- 
pelled to announce, that the minister had " mean- 
ly rescinded this detestable promotion. " — From 
his peculiar sources of information, Junius ap- 
pears to have had knowledge of this appoint- 
ment before it had received the royal sanction. 
— Perhaps he founded his opinion upon the 
changes which were known at the War-Office to 
have taken place, and which, it might be sup- 
posed, were made for no other purpose than to 
provide for Colonel Luttrell. This conjecture 
receives some support from the manner in which 
Junius speaks of the appointment, and from the 
apprehension he entertained lest the entire de- 
sign should be disavowed, " As very few forms 
concurred to this appointment, except private 
commissions to a Lord-lieutenant, we shall not 
be surprised at that effrontery which may here- 
after deny the whole transaction: it is not, 
however, lost in ignorance, because the royal fiat 
had purposely delayed its progress through the 
offices of the Secretaries of State* It never, per- 
haps, was intended that this circumstance should 
have been made public, till the destruction of 
our rights had been at least more easily to be 
accomplished than it is at present." 

Vol* iL p. 15&, 



24 

As the Miscellaneous Letters afford many 
more instances of this commissariat knowledge 
of military matters than the regular letters of 
Junius contain, Mr. Malone's remark is still 
more entitled to our attention than he himself 
imagined. 

The very particular account which Junius 
gives of the dismissal of Sir Jeffery Amherst 
from the government of Virginia, — his state- 
ment, " that Colonel Hotham is now Colonel 
of the 13th Regiment, and that the commis- 
sion of Commandant of the Royal Americans 
only waits until it shall be determined whether 
General Gage shall be recalled or not," — the 
exact estimate he makes of Sir JefFery's income, 
from the government of Virginia, and his two 
regiments,- — the hint he gives to Lord Hills- 
borough, that, 6( the ostensible defence lie has 
given to the public differs widely from the real 
one, intrusted privately to his friends; and that 
the most distant insinuation of what that defence is 
"would ruin his Lordship at once *;" — and his note 
to Woodfall — " By way of intelligence, you may 
inform the public, that Mr. De la Fontaine^r 
his secret services in the Alley, is appointed Bar* 
rack Master to the Savoy" — are all specimens 

* Junius, v. iii. p. 139. 



25 

of intelligence very similar in their kind to those 
we have before adduced. 

Even his personal knowledge of the cream- 
coloured Bradshaw, and the blushing Rigby, 
may have proceeded from the former being at 
one time a clerk in the War-Office ; and the 
latter a paymaster of the Forces. 

But the most complete proofs of the connec- 
tion of Junius with the War-Office, and of his 
identity or connection with Sir Philip Francis, 
are to be found in the letters addressed to Lord 
Barrington. They are introduced to the pub- 
lisher by the following note. 

Jan. 25, 1772. 

(l Having nothing better to do, I propose to entertain 
myself and the public, with torturing that ****** ****** 
Barrington.* He has just appointed a French broker his 
deputy, for no reason but his relation to Bradshaw. I 
hear from all quarters that it is looked upon as a most 
impudent insult to the army. — Be careful not to have it 
known to come from me. Such an insignificant creature 
is not worth the generous rage of Junius." 

Junius, v. i. p.* 247. 



* (Note by the Editor.) The letter that accompanied 
this is numbered 105 in the Miscellaneous Collection, and 
the signature of Junius will be found to be exchanged for 
that of Veteran. Junius, vol. i. p. 247. 



26 

Accordingly in Letter 105, of the Miscellane- 
ous Collection, Junius, under the name of Ve- 
teran, attacks Lord Barrington for having ap- 
pointed Mr. Chamier his deputy. Mr. Chamier 
was successor in the War-Office to Mr. D'Oyly, 
who was discarded to make room for him. 

In this letter Junius introduces a conversa- 
tion-piece between a General Officer and the 
new deputy, with these words: "Let us sup- 
pose a case, which every man acquainted with the 
War-Office will admit to be very probable." 

The incidents throughout this letter are far 
beneath the notice of Junius ; yet they are com- 
mented upon with a severity and resentment 
which shew that they very seriously displeased 
the writer. 

" There is no other way to account for your late frantic 
resolution of appointing Tony Shammy* your deputy 
Secretary at War. 

u My Lord, if I remember right, you are partial to the 
spawn of Jonathan's; witness the care you took to provide 
for Mr. De la Fontaine in the military department. — 

" This last resolution,however 3 approaches to madness; — 
and remember what I seriously tell you, this measure 
will, sooner or later, be the cause, not of your disgrace, — 
(that affair's settled) but of your ruin. What demon 
possessed you, to place a little gambling broker at the 

* Anthony Chamier. 



27 

head of the War-Office, and in a post of so much rank 

and confidence as that of deputy to the Secretary at 

War?" 

Junius, vol. iii. pp. 423-4. 



From whom were these sentiments and ex- 
pressions so likely to proceed as from a clerk in 
the War-Office, who had been disappointed by 
seeing another man unexpectedly placed over 
his head ? 

It is, perhaps, to obviate this conclusion, and 
escape discovery, that he assumes the character 
and signature of a military man. — " We soldiers 
feel it as an indignity to the whole army, and, 
be assured, we shall resent it accordingly." 

The 2d Letter to Lord Barrington contains 
a hasty sketch of his Lordship's political career ; 
and concludes with a conversation, which it is 
insinuated passed between his Lordship and the 
King. 

<s MY LORD, 

" In my last letter I only meant to be 
jocular. An essay so replete with good humour could not 
possibly give offence. You are no enemy to a jest, or at 
least you would be thought callous to reproach. You 
profess a most stoical indifference about the opinion of the 
world, and above all things make it your boast that you 
can set the newspapers at defiance. No man indeed has 



28 



received a greater share of correction in this way, or 
profited less by it than your Lordship. But we know 
you better. You have one defect less than you pretend 
to. You are not insensible of the scorn and hatred of 
the world, though you take no care to avoid it. — When 
the bloody Barrington, that silken fawning courtier at 
St. James's, — that stern and insolent minister at the War- 
Office, is pointed out to universal contempt and detesta- 
tion, you smile indeed, but the last agonies of the hyste- 
ric passion are painted in your countenance. Your cheek 
betrays what passes within you, and your whole frame is 
in convulsions. — I now mean to be serious with you. — 

" By garbling and new modelling the War-Office, you 
think you have reduced the army to subjection.-— Walk 
in, Gentlemen, business done by Chamier and Co. — To 
make your office complete, you want nothing now but 
a paper lanthorn at the door, and the scheme of a lottery 
pasted upon the window. — With all your folly and ob- 
stinacy, I am at a loss to conceive what countenance you 
assumed, when you told your royal master that you had 
taken a little Frenchified broker from Change Alley, to 
intrust with the management of all the affairs of his army. 
Did the following dialogue leave no impression upon your 
disordered imagination ? You know where it passed. 

" K. Pray, my Lord, whom have you appointed to 
succeed Mr. D'Oyly ? 

" B. Please your M , I believe I have made a 

choice that will be highly acceptable to the public and 
to the army. 

« K. Who is it ? 

" C. Sire, il s'appelle Ragosin. Born and educated in 
Change Alley, he glories in the name of broker : and, to 
say nothing of Lord Sandwich's friendship, I can assure 



29 



your M he has always kept the best company at 

Jonathan's. 

" K. My Lord, I never interfere in these matters ; but 
I cannot help telling your Lordship, that you might have 
consulted my honour and the credit of my army a little 
better. Your appointment of so mean a person, though 
he may be a very honest man in the mystery he was bred 
to, casts a reflection upon me, and is an insult to the 
army. At all events, I desire it may be understood that 
I have no concern in this ill-judged, indecent measure, 
and that I do not approve of it." 

• I suppose, my Lord, you thought this conversation 
might be sunk upon the public. It does honour to his 
Majesty, and therefore you concealed it. — In my next I 
propose to shew what a faithful friend you ha-ve been to 
the army, particularly to old worn-out officers." 

Junius, v. iii. p. 430, &c. 

At the beginning of his 3d Letter to Lord 
Harrington, Junius notices, in severe terms, his 
Lordship's " opinion, solemnly and deliberately 
expressed before the House of Commons, that 
there is not a single man in the profession who 
is in any shape qualified for Commander in 
Chief." 

This letter concludes with a conversation- 
piece, which is introduced in the following 
manner. 

" After treating the most powerful people in the army 
with so much unprovoked insolence, it is not to be sup- 



so 

posed that field officers, captains, and subalterns, have 
any chance of common justice at your hands. But that 
matter shall be the subject of another letter, and every 
letter shall be concluded with a conversation-piece. The 
following dialogue is not imaginary. 



Scene. — War-Office. 
Enter Barrington, meeting Waddlewell. 

" B. My dear friend,you look charmingly this morning. 

" W* My dearest Lord — the sight of your Lordship ! — - 
(litre they embrace, WaddlewelVs thoughts being too Jbig 
for utterance.) 

" B. When did you see my Pylades, our dear Brad- 
shaw ? 

" W. Ay, my Lord, there is a friend indeed ! — Firm- 
ness without resistance — sincerity without contradiction 
— and the milky way painted in his countenance. If I 
could ever reconcile my mind to the distracting prospect 
of losing your Lordship, where else should we look for a 
successor ! But that event I hope is at a great distance. 
Late, very late, Oh may he rule us ! 

" B. Ay, my dearest Waddlewell, but we are sadly 
abused notwithstanding all our virtues. 

" W. Merit, my dear Lord, merit will for ever excite 
enmity. — I found it so in the Alley. I never made a 
lucky hit in my life, that it did not set all Jonathan's in 
an uproar. If an idea succeeded, my best friends turned 
against me, Judas and Levi, Moses and Issachar. — People 
with whom I have been connected by the tenderest ties — 
could not endure a sight of my prosperity. The ten 
tribes of Israel united to destroy me, and for two years 
together were malicious enough to call me the lucky little 



31 

Benjamin. Friendship, among the best of men, is little 
better than a name. 

u B. Why, my dear deputy, it is not that I regard the 
contempt and hatred of all mankind. — I never knew it 
otherwise. No man's patience has been better exercised. 
But what if the King should hear of it ? — 

" W. Ay, there's the rub ! 

" B. If the best of princes, who pretends to be his own 
Commander in Chief, should hear that the name of 
Barrington is opprobrious in the army ; — that even he 
himself is not spared for supporting me 

" W. (Weeping). Oh fatal day! — Compared with this 
what is a riscounter ! — Alas, my dearest Lord ! you 
have unmanned your deputy. — I feel myself already at 
10 per cent, discount, and never shall be at par again. 

" B. Something must be done. — Let us consider. 

" W. Ay, my dear Lord, for heaven's sake let us 
speculate ! (Exeunt, disputing about precedence.)" 

Junius , vol. iii. p. 437, &c. 

The 4th Letter of Junius to Lord Barrington 
is' not concluded with a dialogue, though one 
had been promised. He appears to be upon 
his guard, as if he thought himself suspected. 
Some person, under the signature of Novalis, 
had replied to his former letters; and from one 
passage in this reply, if Junius was indeed a 
clerk in the War-Office, we may infer that he 
had some cause of alarm. 

Novalis challenges a comparison between the 
experience of Lord Barrington and that of his 
clerks. Junius repeats the passage, and com- 



32 



ments on it, but with a reserve that is not 
usual with him. As for the challenge, it is 
altogether neglected ; and not a word appears 
in favour of the clerks. 

" My Lord, 

" I am at a loss for words to express 
my acknowledgment of the signal honour you have done 
me. One of the principal purposes of these addresses 
was to engage you in a regular public correspondence. 
You very justly thought it unnecessary to sign your 
name to this last, elegant performance. Novalis answers 
as well as Barrington. We know you by your style. 

" You intimate, without daring directly to assert, that 
you did not fix that odious stigma upon the body of 
general officers. Have you forgot the time when you 
attempted the same evasion in the House of Commons, 
and forced General Howard to rise and say he was 
ashamed of you ? — These mean, dirty, pitiful tricks are 
fitter for Jonathan's than the War-Office. 

" Tou have more experience than any of your Clerks, 
and your great abilities are acknowledged on all sides. — 
As for your experience, we all know how much your 
conduct has been improved by it. But, pray, who 
informed you of this universal acknowledgment of your 
abilities? The sycophants whose company you delight 
in are likely enough to fill you with these flattering 
ideas. But if you were wise enough to consult the good 
opinion of the world, you would not be so eager to 
establish the credit of your understanding. The moment 
vou arrive at the character of a man of sense you are 
undone : you must then relinquish the only tolerable 



33 

excuse that can be made for your conduct. — It is really 
unkind of you to distress the few friends you have left." 

Junius, vol. iii. p. 439, &c. 

The real grievance again appears at the latter 
end of this Letter. It stands almost as the 
acknowledged motive of these addresses to Lord 
Barrington. 

" For shame, my Lord Barrington ! send this whiffling 
broker back to the mystery he was bred in. Though an 
infant in the War-Office, the man is too old to learn a 
new trade. — At this very moment they are calling out for 
him at the bar of Jonathan's, — Shammy! Shammy! Sham- 
my ! — The house of Israel are waiting to settle their last 
account with him. During his absence things may take a 
desperate turn in the Alley, and you never may be able 
to make up to the man what he has lost in half-crowns 
and sixpences already." 

Junius, vol. iii. p. 444. 

Although the writer had threatened Lord 
Barrington with sixteen Letters* on the subject 
of the War-Office, and had numbered them as 
if he actually meant to keep his word, the fourth 
concludes the series. Mr. Francis was ex« 
pelled, and not Mr. Chamier: the purpose, 
therefore, of their publication was probably at 
an end. 

* Vide Junius, vol. iii. p. 42?* 

D 



34 



The letter next in order to those addressed to 
Lord Barrington announces the expulsion of 
Mr. Francis from the War-Office. This fact 
forms the sole subject of the letter. It is men- 
tioned in strong language of reprobation, and 
we are even told that it is a fit subject of inves- 
tigation by the House of Commons. — We insert 
the whole. 

" To the Printer of the Public Advertiser. 
" Sir, 

" I desire you will inform the public that the 
worthy Lord Barrington, not contented with having driven 
Mr. D'Oyly out of the War-Office, has at least contrived 
to expel Mr. Francis. His Lordship will never rest till 
he has cleared his office of every gentleman who can 
either be serviceable to the public, or whose honour and 
integrity are a check upon his own dark proceedings. 
Men who do their duty with credit and ability are not 
proper instruments for Lord Barrington to work with. 
He must have a broker from Change- Alley for his deputy, 
and some raw ignorant boy for his first clerk. I think 
the public have a right to call upon Mr. D'Oyly and 
Mr. Francis to declare their reasons for quitting the War- 
Office. Men of their unblemished character do not re- 
sign lucrative employments without some sufficient rea- 
sons. The conduct of these gentlemen has always been 
approved of, and I know that they stand as well in the 
esteem of the army, as any persons in their station ever 
did. What then can be the cause that the public and the 
army should be deprived of their service ? — There must 
certainly be something about Lord Barrington which 



35 



every honest man dreads and detests. Or is it that they 
cannot be brought to connive at his jobs and underhand 
dealings ? They have too much honour I suppose to do 
some certain business by commission. They have not 
been educated in the conversation of Jews and gamblers,— 
they have had no experience at Jonathan's, — they know- 
nothing of the stocks ; and therefore Lord Barrington 
drives them out of the War-Office. The army, indeed, 
is come to a fine pass, with a gambling broker at the head 
of it I What signifies ability, or integrity, or practice, or 
experience in business ? Lord Barrington feels himself 
uneasy while men with such qualifications are about him. 
He wants nothing in his office but ignorance, impudence, 
pertness, and servility. Of these commodities he has laid 
in a plentiful stock, that ought to last him as long as he is 
Secretary at War. Again, I wish that Mr. Francis and 
Mr. D'Oyly would give the public some account of what 
is going forward in the War-Office. I think these events 
so remarkable, that some notice ought to be taken of them 
in the House of Commons. When the public loses the 
service of two able and honest servants, it is but reason- 
able that the wretch, who drives such men out of a public 
office, should be compelled to give some account of him- 
self and his proceedings." — 

Junius, v. iii. p. 444, &c. 

This is the last of the letters signed " Vete- 
ran:" — it is dated March 23, 1772. 

On May 4, 1772, Junius recommences his 
attack on Lord Barrington in a letter signed 
Scotus. But there is not one word about the 
War-Office in it. It is, however, very probable 

D 2 



SG 



that the following lines allude to the late dis- 
missals. 

tt It is the coward who fawns upon those above him. 
It is the coward that is insolent wherever he dares be so. 
You have had some lessons which have made you more 
cautious than you used to be. Toil have reason to re- 
member ; that modest humble merit will not always bear 
to be insulted by an upstart in office." 

Junius, vol. iii. p. 448. 

Our author's next letter is dated the 8th of 
May, 1772, and narrates the history of Bradshaw 
of the Treasury. He is described as having been 
one of Lord Barrington's domestics. He then 
pimped himself into a pension of 1500/, a year, 
and was lastly appointed a Lord of the Admi- 
ralty. This appointment called forth Junius's 
present letter, which is addressed to the Lords 
of the Admiralty. — As there is nothing very 
important in this short letter, we shall not make 
any extracts from it. The order in which it 
stands, being the last but one of all the letters 
of Junius, is the reason it is now mentioned. 

We are now come to the last public letter 
known to have been written by Junius. It ap- 
peared under the signature of Nemesis, and is 
dated May 12, 1772. On its first publication it 
was called, " Memoirs of Lord Harrington" in 
compliance with the request of the writer. 



37 

r< I am just returned from a visit in a certain part of 
Berkshire, near which I found Lord Barrington had spent 
his Easter-holidays. His Lordship, I presume, went into 
the country to indulge his grief ; for, whatever company 
he happened to be in, it seems his discourse turned en- 
tirely upon the hardship and difficulty of his situation. 
The impression which he would be glad to give of him- 
self, is that of an old faithful servant of the crown, who 
on one side is abused and vilified for his great zeal in 
support of Government, and at the same time gets no 
thanks or reward from the King or the Administration. 
He is modest enough to affirm in all companies, that his 
services are unrewarded, that he bears the burthen, that 
other people engross the profits; and that he gets no- 
thing. Those who know but little of his history may 
perhaps be inclined to pity him ; but he and I have been 
old acquaintance, and considering the size of his under- 
standing, I believe I shall be able to prove, that no man 
in the kingdom ever sold himself and his services to 
better advantage than Lord Barrington. — Let us take a 
short review of him from his political birth." 

Junius, vol. iii. p. 451, &c. 

After enumerating the different particulars 
of Lord Barrington's political life, our author 
adds: 

" At his very outset, the blundering orders he sent to 
Gibraltar might have occasioned the loss of that import- 
ant place. When the fate of Gibraltar was at stake, we 
had a Secretary at War who could neither write plain 
English nor common sense. But he compensated for his 
own blunder by ruining the worthy General Fowke, 
whom he and a certain Countess (taking a base advantage 



m 

of the unhappy man's distress) prevailed upon to write 
a letter, the recollection of which soon after broke his 
heart." 

" Sometimes his folly exceeds all bounds : as, for in- 
stance, when he traduced the whole body of General Of- 
ficers, which I presume they will not readily forget. In 
the War-Office he has made it his study to oppress all the 
lower part of the army by a multitude of foolish regu- 
lations, by which he hoped to gain the reputation of 
great discipline and economy ; but which have only 
served to make him as odious to the military, as he is to 
every other rank of people in the kingdom. 

" Such are the services which, in his lordship's opinion, 
can never be sufficiently rewarded. He complains that 
he gets nothing ; although, upon a moderate computation, 
he has not received less of the public money than fifty- 
three thousand pounds : viz. 

Ten years Lord of the Admiralty. - £ 8,000 

Eighteen years either Secretary at War, Chan- 
cellor of the Exchequer, or Treasurer of 
the Navy, at £ 2,500 per annum. - £ 45,000 



£ 53,000 

It is not possible to ascertain what farther advantages he 
may have made by preference in subscriptions, lottery - 
tickets, and the management of large sums lying in his 
hands, as Treasurer of the Navy. Mr. Chamier, if he 
thought proper, might give us some tolerable account of 
the matter. When a Secretary at War chooses a bro- 
ker for his deputy, it is not difficult to guess what kind 
of transactions must formerly have passed between them. 
I don't mean to question the honour of Mr. Chamier, 



m 

He always had the reputation of as active a little fellow as 
any in Jonathan's. But, putting all things together, I 
think we may affirm that when Lord Barrington com- 
plains of getting nothing from government, he must have 
conceived a most extravagant idea of his own import- 
ance, or that the inward torture he suffers from knowing 
how thoroughly he is hated and despised is such as no 
pecuniary emoluments can repay." 

Junius, vol. hi. p. 455, &c. 

From that time to the present we bear no 
more of Junius, with the exception of a private 
letter to Woodfall, dated Jan. 19, 1773. 

* I have seen the signals thrown out for your old friend 
and correspondent. Be assured that I have had good rea- 
son for not complying with them. In the present state of 
things, if I were to write again, I must be as silly as any 
of the horned cattle that run mad through the city, or 
as any of your wise aldermen. I meant the cause and 
the public. Both are given up. I feel for the honour of 
this country, when I see that there are not ten men in it 
who will unite and stand together upon any one question. 
But it is all alike, vile and contemptible." 

Junius, vol. i. p. *255. 

That Mr. Francis was suspected of being the 
author of the letters signed Veteran, may be in- 
ferred from some expressions in these letters, as 
well as from his expulsion from the War-Office. 
Lord Barrington introduced him into that de- 
partment. — Lord Barrington expelled him. And 
as there are no more attacks upon his Lord- 



40 

ship from the same quarter after that expulsion, 
he must have been confirmed, if he previously 
entertained a doubt, in the opinion that Mr. 
Philip Francis was the writer. 

Junius himself appears to have dreaded, that 
if he were known to be the author of the letters 
signed Veteran, it might be discovered that he 
was also concerned in the Letters of Junius. 
His private letter to Woodfall, on the 10th of 
May, 1772, is as follows — " Pray let this be an- 
nounced, Memoirs of Lord Barrington in our 
next. Keep the author a secret*.' 9 And in the 
letter which accompanied the first of those signed 
Veteran, he says — " Be careful not to have it 
known to come from mef." 

The real name of the author not being known 
to Woodfall, all that could be intended by this 
injunction was, that Junius should not be known 
to have written them. He foresaw that if Lord 
Barrington should ascertain that Junius and 
Veteran were the same, his grand secret would 
be discovered. But had his Lordship entertained 
no suspicion of the author, it must have been 
perfectly indifferent to Junius whether the let- 
ters of Veteran, Scotus, and Nemesis, were 
traced Co him or not. — He shews no such appre. 

* Junius, vol. i. p. *355. f ?&> P» * 2 *7, 



41 

hension as this on any other occasion. . Yet he 
had before this time written under different signa- 
tures^ — It is fair, therefore, to conclude that he 
had betrayed himself by his warmth in this in- 
stance, and was afraid lest, by means of the clue 
he had dropt, his enemies should track him up 
to Junius himself. 

It may excite surprise, that Mr. Francis, if 
he were indeed Junius, should be so extremely 
severe in his attacks upon Lord Barrington, who 
was his earliest patron, and had introduced him 
into the War-Office, — Without attempting to 
account for the fact, by the political conduct of 
Lord Barrington, which is the cause assigned in 
WoodfalFs edition, we have only to appeal to 
the evidence of the letters before us. They ex- 
pressly say that Lord Barrington expelled Mr. 
Francis, because " his honour and integrity were 
a check upon his Lordship s dark proceedings " 
because " men who do their duty with credit 
and ability are not proper instruments for Lord 
Barrington to work with ; they cannot be 
brought to connive at his jobs and underhand 
dealings;" and, among other reasons, because 
" Lord Barrington feels himself uneasy while 
men with such qualifications are about him" 



It is unnecessary to pursue this portion of our 
proofs any further. Mr. Francis and Junius 
are by these last letters completely identified. 
The reader will observe, that during the whole 
period of the publication of the letters of Junius, 
Mr. Francis was a chief clerk in the War- 
Office ; — that for a considerable time Lord Bar- 
rington was the constant subject of attack from 
the pen of Junius ; that several of his last letters 
are solely occupied in addresses to his Lordship; 
and that from the time of Mr. Francis's quitting 
the War-Office, neither Lord Barrington nor the 
public have heard any thing more of Junius. 



AS 

We shall now consider such other particulars 
of the character of Junius as are known to the 
public, and shew how exactly they apply 
those gentlemen who are the subject of our pre- 
sent investigation. 

One of the persons composing the character 
of Junius possessed a considerable degreeof legal 
knowledge ; and numerous phrases might becited, 
to evince his familiar acquaintance with the lan- 
guage of the profession. Yet Junius expressly 
declares, without elsewhere contradicting or qua- 
lifying the assertion — " I am no lawyer by pro- 
fession ; nor do I pretend to be more deeply read 
than every English gentleman should be, in the 
laws of his country. If, therefore, the principles I 
maintain are truly constitutional, I shall not 
think myself answered, though I should be con- 
victed of a mistake in terms, or of misapplying 
the language of the law r ." 

Junius, vol. i. p. ii. Preface. 

Again, in a private letter to Wilkes. 

cc Though I use the terms of art, do not injure me so 
much as to suspect I am a lawyer. — I had as lief be a 
Scotchman." 

Junius, vol. i. p. 312. 

But while he declares his aversion to the pro- 
fession, and his contempt for the practice of the 
law, it is evident, from his works, that he was 



44 

profoundly acquainted with its principles. And 
in a letter to WoodfalJ, on the subject of his 
trial for publishing the Letter to the King, he 
expresses his opinion with an air of legal au- 
thority. 

" I have carefully perused the Information. It is so 
loose and ill drawn, that I am persuaded Mr. De Grey 
could not have had a hand in it. Their inserting the 
whole, proves they had no strong passages to fix on. I 
still think it will not be tried. If it should, it is not pos- 
sible for a jury to find you guilty/' _ 

Junius, vol. I. p. # 209. 

We may collect from these extracts, and from 
the whole tenor of his writings, that though Ju- 
nius was certainly no lawyer by profession, he 
was deeply versed in the science of jurispru- 
dence ;- and, as he himself declares, " well knew 
the practice of the Court, and by what rules it 

ought to be directed." 

Junius, vol. ii. p. 409. 

Mr. Francis was no lawyer by profession. 
But his abilities, as a civilian and a statesman, 
may be estimated from the following account. 
It fortunately affords a testimony of his uncom- 
mon talents and attainments, at the very time 
when the Letters of Junius were written. 

It was resolved by Parliament that some at- 
tempt should be made to reform the abuses in 
the government of India* 



" Accordingly, Lord North, then in the zenith of his 
power, introduced a bill for this purpose, in 1773, con- 
taining a variety of regulations, by which the civil go- 
vernment of Bengal was to be vested in a governor-gene- 
ral and council, while the juridical administration was to 
be confided to a supreme court of judicature. 

" In conformity to the first of these plans, it was de- 
termined to send out three persons of known integrity 
and talents, not only to enforce the act in question, but 
also to constitute a majority in the council ; by means of 
which the improvident expenditure in the revenue might 
be controlled, the grievances of the country powers re- 
dressed, the interests of the company benefited, and the 
honour of the English name, which was supposed, not 
without truth, to have been tarnished by malversation and 
oppression, restored to its wonted lustre. 

" For the completion of these honourable purposes, 
two soldiers and one civilian were selected. Sir John 
Clavering, the commander in chief, was a man of some 
military reputation, and possessed a high character for in- 
tegrity. — Colonel Monson, the second, who had served 
and distinguished himself in India, possessed an unim- 
peachable reputation ; — and Mr. Philip Francis, then 
in the bloom of manhood, had at once the merit and 
good fortune of being selected as the last of this respect- 
able triumvirate. Young, however, as he might be, he 
was the man of business selected to organize the plans, di- 
rect the proceedings, and regulate the conduct of the 
whole*" 

If, on this head, further evidence were neces- 
sary, we might quote the words of Mr. Burke, 

* Pub. Char. I8O9. 



46 

when he describes the situation of Mr. Francis 
on his return to England in 1781. 

" This man, whose deep reach of thought, whose large 
legislative conceptions, and whose grand plans of policy 
make the most shining part of our reports, from whence 
we have all learned our lessons, if we have learned any 
good ones ; this man, from whose materials those gentle- 
men, who have least acknowledged it, have yet spoken, 
as from a brief; this man, driven from his employment, 
discountenanced by the directors, has had no other re- 
ward, and no other distinction, but that inward " sun- 
shine of the soul, which a good conscience can always 
bestow upon itself." 

Burke's Works, vol. IV. p. 101. 

From these testimonies, and a multitude of 
others that might be adduced, it is apparent that 
Sir Philip Francis, even at that early period, 
was, in all the requisites of legal knowledge, fully 
competent to the production of the Letters of 
Junius. 



Junius was so universally suspected to be an 
Irishman, or of Irish descent, that any attempt 
to prove it from his writings would be unneces- 
sary for our present purpose. 

A writer, who signs himself Oxoniensis, men- 
tions some of Junius's Hibernicisms, and endea- 



47 

vours to prove, from these expressions, that Mr. 
Burke was the author. We shall quote one pa- 
ragraph of this letter, chiefly for the sake of the 
proof it brings, that Junius, whoever he might 
be, was a member of the University of Dublin. 

<{ Edmund received his education amongst the Irish 
Jesuits at St. Omer's, and finished his studies in Ireland. 
If any one will take the trouble of reading over the Let- 
ters of Junius, he will find that Edmund, notwithstanding 
all his ( care and pains,' sometimes falls into Hiberni- 
cisms. In one place he says, c make common cause:' 
this is not English, though, to be sure, the phrase is com- 
mon enough in Dublin. In Junius's Letter of the 13th 
of August, he talks of c the sophistries of a collegian :' 
this expression is not English ; and the word collegian is 
never used in this sense, except in the college of Dublin, 
and (perhaps) of St. Omer's. We say, indeed, fellow- 
collegian ; but at the great schools here, those of the col- 
lege are called collegers : and at our two Universities the 
members of a college are called gownsmen ; at Dublin 
they are called collegians" 

Though Oxoniensis was wrong in his suspi- 
cions of Mr. Burke, his arguments to prove that 
Junius was, in his sense of the word, a collegian, 
are worth our notice. 

Baker, in his biography of Dr. Francis, af- 
fords us very few particulars of his life ; but what 
he says is strictly consistent with the preceding 
inferences : 



48 

w This gentleman is of Irish extraction, if not born in 
that kingdom. His father was a dignified clergyman, 
being dean of some cathedral, and also rector of St. Mary's, 
Dublin, from whence he was ejected by the court, on ac- 
count of his Tory principles, after he had enjoyed the 
living eighteen years. His son was also bred to the 
church, and had a doctor's degree conferred on him." 

We are further told, by the biographer of Sir 
Philip, that Dr. Francis " received his educa- 
tion at the University of the Holy Trinity, Dub- 
lin, and obtained the degree of D.D. there*." 

These accounts tally so exactly with the con- 
clusions attempted to be drawn in the preceding 
letter, that we cannot but regard them as mate- 
rial corroborations of our general opinion. The 
editor of Junius, in his Preliminary Essay, at the 
same time that he notices the currency of the 
charge, inclines to the belief that Junius is not 
proved by internal evidence to belong to any 
particular country. His words are as follow : 

" Of those who have critically analyzed the style of 
his compositions, some have pretended to prove, that he 
must necessarily have been of Irish descent, or Irish edu- 
cation, from the peculiarity of his idioms; — while, to shew 
how little dependence is to be placed upon any such ob- 
servations, others have equally pretended to prove, from 
a similar investigation, that he could not have been a na- 
tive of either Scotland or Ireland, nor have studied in any 

* Pub, Char, lSOp. 



49 

university of either of those countries. The fact is, that 
there are a few phraseologies in his Letters peculiar to 
himself ; such as occur in the compositions of all original 
writers of great force and genius, but which are neither 
indicative of any particular race, nor referable to any pro- 
vincial dialect." 

Junius, v. i. p. *88. 

This same conclusion may, with almost as 
much propriety, be drawn from an examination 
of the avowed works of Dr. Francis, as there is 
scarcely one peculiar expression in the whole 
of his Demosthenes and Horace, of which an 
example cannot also be found in the last edition 
of the works of Junius. These expressions 
abound in some letters more than in others ; but 
this may be owing to the superior care bestowed 
upon the composition of those pieces wherein 
they are less frequent, and to the critical powers 
of that duplex character displayed in the osten- 
sible productions of Junius. But even these 
latter are not totally free from singular forms of 
expression, many of which may, with ease, be 
traced in the undoubted writings of the Doctor. 
Let us not be understood to affirm this univer- 
sally ; for we are persuaded that more than one 
person was concerned in the production of these 
Letters. Internal evidence supports this opinion . 
But whether they were the compositions of \ 

E 



50 
z 

the Son, strengthened by the profound remarks, 
the sarcastic wit, and the happy expression of 
the Father: or whether the Father dictated, 
while the Son held the pen, enlivening and il- 
lustrating the work as it proceeded, with his own 
sprightly and pertinent suggestions, it is not 

| for us to determine. Be this as it may, there 
certainly appears, throughout the work, a va- 
riety of style, irreconcileable with the idea, that 
only one person was the author. This difference 
is especially apparent in the use of the relative 
pronoun. Sometimes it is inserted as frequently 
as it can be : at others, it is omitted to so great 
a degree as to form a remarkable character in 
the style of this great English classic. We can- 
not therefore assert, that every singularity in the 
language of Junius is to be paralleled by pas- 
sages from the works of Dr. Francis. But with 
very few exceptions we may make this declara- 

\tion. And, with still fewer, we may venture to 
affirm, that Call the peculiarities of language in 
the writings of Dr. Francis, are discernible in 
some part or other of the works of Junius. The 
quotations we shall bring forward under the 
head of internal evidence, will tend both to illus- 
trate and justify this position. 



51 

In consequence of the extensive range of his 
subjects, and the boldness with which he at- 
tacked every kind of political delinquency, when 
Junius overlooked a flagrant case of malversa- 
tion, it was supposed to proceed from his secret 
partiality for the man. His forbearance towards 
Lord Holland was so uniform that it could not 
pass unnoticed ; and inferences were accordingly 
drawn from the fact to prove, that the writer 
was in some degree connected with his Lordship. 
His was a case indeed which might naturally be 
expected to call forth all the " generous rage 
of Junius." But on this subject he was inflex- 
ibly silent. 

This reserve on the part of Junius could not 
proceed from his ignorance of the particulars of 
an affair which was so generally known to the 
public. Nor was he so unacquainted with his 
lordship and his family as not to be able to make 
the attack in his usual caustic manner. Sus- 
pecting that his lordship's son, the late Mr. Fox, 
was the author of some remarks which appeared 
under the signature of " an old Correspondent" 
Junius concludes his answer to this gentleman 
in the following words, 

" This my. pretty Black Boy calls a retractation of 
Jun ius's first concession, and applies to his aged father 

E 2 



52 

idr an old woman's proverb. — Junius speaks of softening 
the symptoms of a disorder. The Black Boy changes 
the terms again, and destroys the allusion. The rest of 
his letter is of a piece with these instances ; a misrepre- 
sentation of Junius, equally pert, false, and stupid. Ex 
his disce omnia. 

" I know nothing of Junius, but I see plainly, that he 
has designedly spared Lord Holland and his family.— 
Whether Lord Holland be invulnerable, or whether Ju- 
nius should be wantonly provoked, are questions worthy 
the Black Boy's consideration." 

Junius, vol. iii. p. 410. 



As Lord Holland did not owe his safety to 
our author's ignorance of his history, it is not 
very likely that it proceeded from any general 
esteem that he might entertain for his public 
character. Men whose conduct and principles 
were far more likely to win the regard of Ju- 
nius, were not without the utmost difficulty able 
to obtain and preserve it. As long as a doubt 
remained of the rectitude of their intentions, he 
examined their proceedings with a watchful 
eye ; and at the first appearance of impropriety, 
he interfered, and expressed his warmest resent- 
ment. 

The jealousy of Junius in all that concerned 
the public good, made him at one time regard 



53 

even Lord Chatham as a traitor to his coun- 
try.* 

As long as he was thus suspected, his Lord- 
ship felt the full force of our author's indigna- 
tion. When, at a subsequent period, Junius 
arrived at a better understanding of that Noble- 
man's character ; — when he saw him " gal- 
lantly throw away the scabbard"f and stand up 
in defence of the rights of the people, a decided 
change took place in his opinions. But the 
manner in which he avows this alteration in 
his sentiments, shews with what care and de- 
liberation it was made. 

" I did not intend to make a public declaration of the 
respect I bear Lord Chatham. I well knew what unworthy 
conclusions would be drawn from it. But I am called 
upon to deliver my opinion, and surely it is not in the 
little censure of Mr. Home, to deter me from doing 
signal justice to a man, who, I confess, has grown upon 
my esteem. As for the common sordid views of avarice, 
or any purpose of vulgar ambition, I question whether 
the applause of Junius would be of service to Lord Chat- 
ham. My vote will hardly recommend him to an in- 
crease of his pension, or to a seat in the Cabinet. But, 
if his ambition be upon a level with his understanding,-— if 
he judges of what is truly honourable for himself, with the 
same superior genius which animates and directs him to 
eloquence in debate, to wisdom in decision, even the pen 

* Junius, vol. ii. p. 458, f Vol, i. p. *23l. 



54 

of Junius shall contribute to reward him. Recorded 
honours shall gather round his monument and thicken 
over him. It is a solid fabric, and will support the lau- 
rels that adorn it. — I am not conversant in the language 
of panegyric. — These praises are extorted from me, but 
they will wear well, for they have been dearly earned." 

Junius, v. ii. p. 310. 

The same disposition to censure those men 
whose principles were in reality not at any time 
very different from his own, is observable in 
his conduct to Lord Camden. He was once 
" Judge Jefferyes," with" the Laws of England 
under his feet, and before his distorted vision 
a dagger which he calls the Law of Nature, and 
which marshals him the way to the murder of 
the constitution." — V. ii, p. 472. 

After a lapse of five years, during which 
Lord Camden had sufficiently evinced his at- 
tachment to the genuine principles of the con- 
stitution, his public virtue drew from Junius 
the following acknowledgment of esteem. — "I 
turn, with pleasure, from that barren waste, in 
which no salutary plant takes root, no verdure 
quickens, to a character fertile, as I willingly 
believe, in every great and good qualification. " 
— V. ii. p. 441. 

While such men as these were hardly for- 
given, we cannot but wonder that Lord Hoi- 



35 

land should escape. It was certainly no com- 
mon cause that could produce so decided a 
partiality. Nor was it any consideration of a 
public nature, for that would have operated in 
other instances. The reasons, whatever they 
were, that led to this mysterious behaviour, 
must have been wholly of a private kind.— 
Junius must have been secretly attached to 
Lord Holland by the closest ties. In such a 
cause as this it was not possible for him to be 
indifferent, and as he evidently was not a foe, 
it is fair to presume that he was a friend. 

But we are not left to doubt of the attach- 
ment of Junius to the late Lord Holland. In 
his private letters to Woodfall he expressly says, 
u / wish Lord Holland may acquit himself with 
honour. If his cause be good, he should at 
once have published that account, to which he 
refers in his letter to the Mayor." — V. i. p.*174. 

Let us then proceed to consider how far this 
partiality for Lord Holland and his family affects 
that gentleman to whom we attribute an im- 
portant share in the production of the Letters of 
Junius. — We must again refer to his biographer. 

Dr. Francis's Translation of Horace made 
his name known in England about the year t 
1743. Some time after its publication he ap- 
pears to have come over to England ; where in 



m 

1753 he published the first vol. of his Translation 
of Demosthenes.* — In 1752 appeared the Tra- 
gedy of Eugenia. And in 1754 that of Con- 
stantine. — He published the 2d vol. of Demos- 
thenes in 1755.t 

u Towards the beginning of the present reign Dr. 
Francis entered the lists as a political writer ; and, 
among other persons of distinction, lived in great intimacy 
with Lord Holland, the father of the late Mr. Fox, who 
was then a great favourite at court, and consulted by his 
Majesty on many trying occasions. 

i( How far this circumstance may have been accom- 
panied by any beneficial consequences, we are not pre- 
pared to decide. As to himself, he was promoted to the 
rectory of Barrow, in Suffolk, a living of considerable 
amount, and this he held along with the Chaplaincy of 
Chelsea Hospital, the latter of which he appears to have 
retained from 1764 to 1768." 

Pub. Char. 1809. 



Dr. Francis was also the Chaplain of Lord 
Holland ; and his translation of Demosthenes 
was dedicated to his Lordship. In expectation 
of a refusal, if he had applied for permission to 
make this dedication to his patron, he adds, " but 
who would bear being much obliged, if he were 

* The date prefixed to the work is 1757and 1758. 
f Baker's Biog. Dram, and Biog, Diet. 



67 

forbidden to acknowledge the obligation, or why 
should gratitude be the only virtue you seem 
unwilling to encourage ? But, Sir, I had other 
motives to this address ; I would inform our 
men of genius and learning that this was the 
only literary work proposed to the public during 
your continuance in administration, and that it 
was in a particular manner honoured with your 
protection." 

But Dr. Francis was not only honoured with 
the friendship and patronage of his Lordship, 
we are informed that he was also the tutor of 
his Son ; and, if Doctor Francis was indeed 
the author of the Letters of Junius, it is a 
singular and very satisfactory circumstance, 
that Mr. Fox was indebted to so firm a friend of 
liberty for any part of his education. 

The intimacy of Dr, Francis with Lord 
Holland, his situation in that nobleman's family, 
and the preferment he had received through 
his intervention, were circumstances clearly 
sufficient to produce that silence which in 
Junius is so remarkable. Attached to Lord 
Holland by gratitude and friendship, he could 
not, consistently with honour, arraign his pub- 
lic conduct. Besides, whatever remarks he 
might think proper to make, would be heard 
in private with greater prospects of advantage. 



58 

These considerations appear to us powerful 
enough to lay restraint upon the pen of Junius. 
We think, at the same time, nothing short of 
these ties could limit his exertions in the service 
of his country. 

By means of the opportunities which were 
afforded him by his connection with the family 
of Lord Holland, Dr. Francis would un- 
avoidably acquire that peculiar knowledge of 
the affairs of the Court which is so conspicuous 
in Junius. We have seen that Lord Holland 
" was then a great favourite at court, and 
consulted by his Majesty on many trying oc- 
casions.'' With this key, we are no longer at 
a loss to ascertain the source whence Junius 
might derive his anecdotes of the King — of 
the Princess Dowager of Wales— -of the brutal 
conduct of the Duke of Bedford towards his 
Sovereign — of the secret intelligence concern- 
ing Junius conveyed by Garrick to Richmond, 
— and of those changes in the superior depart- 
ments of Administration, with which he was so 
promptly made acquainted. But if it appears 
improbable that from this single channel our 
author should have derived a knowledge of 
such various particulars, let it be recollected 
that he was in other respects intimately con- 
nected with high life and the literary world. 



59 

He was the Chaplain and intimate friend of 
Lord Chesterfield, to whom he dedicates his 
tragedy of Constantine, in terms which shew the 
mutual regard which subsisted between them. 
" As I may probably," says our author, " never 
have another opportunity, certainly not in this 
kind of writing, of publicly professing my re- 
spect, my esteem, I had almost said, my affec- 
tion for your lordship, may I not be forgiven, if 
I dedicate, not the Play, but its Author ; not his 
Poetry, but his Understanding and his Heart?" 

The acquaintance which Dr. Francis main- 
tained among eminent literary men may be in- 
ferred from various anecdotes which are related 
of him. Of his fondness for London and literary 
society, even as early as 1752, Mr. Gibbon, 
the historian, who was at that time his pupil, 
accidentally affords the following testimony. — 
" My unexpected recovery again encouraged 
the hope of my education; and I was placed at 
Esher in Surrey, in the house of the Rev. Mr. 
Philip Francis, in a pleasant spot, which pro- 
mised to unite the various benefits of air, exer- 
cise, and study. The Translator of Horace 
might have taught me to relish the Latin poets, 
had not my friends discovered, in a few weeks, 
that he preferred the pleasures of London to 
the instruction of his pupils." 



60 

The circumstances connected with Garrick' s 
interference for the purpose of discovering the 
author of the Letters of Junius, deserve more 
particular consideration. 

Junius writes thus to Woodfall, in a private 
letter, dated Nov. 8, 1771 : — 

" (secret). 

u Beware of David Garrick — he was sent to pump you, 
and went directly to Richmond to tell the King I should 
write no more." 

Junius, vol. i. p. # 228. 

Two days after this, he sends the following 
letter to WoodfalJ, to be by him transcribed and 
forwarded to Garrick. 



« To Mr. David Garrick, 

" I am very exactly informed of your 
impertinent inquiries, and of the information you so 
busily sent to Richmond, and with what triumph and 
exultation it was received. I knew every particular of it 
the next day. Now, mark me, vagabond, keep to your 
pantomimes, or, be assured, you shall hear of it ; meddle 
no more, thou busy informer ! It is in my power to 
make you curse the hour in which you dared to interfere 
with 

" Junius." 



61 



w I would send the above to Garrick directly, but that 
7" would avoid having this hand too commonly seen. 
Oblige me, then, so much as to have it copied in any 
hand, and sent by the penny-post ; that is, if you dislike . 
sending it in your own writing. I must be more cautious 
than ever. I am sure I should not survive a discovery 
three days •, or if I did, they would attaint me by bill. 
Change to the Somerset Coffee-House, and let no mortal 
know the alteration" 

Junius, vol. i. p. *229> &c. 

From an explanation which Woodfall gave 
him, of the means by which Garrick obtained 
his intelligence, Junius desires Woodfall to 
" drop the note," adding, cc the truth is, that in 
order to curry favour, he made himself a greater 
rascal than he was. Depend upon what I tell 
you, the King understood that he had found out 
the secret by his own cunning and activity. — 
As it is important to deter him from meddling, I 
desire you will tell him that I am aware of his 
practices, and will certainly be revenged if he 
does not desist. An appeal to the public from 
Junius would destroy him." At the end of 
the same letter he again changes his opinion, 
and desires Woodfall to send the note. " Upon 
reflection," says he, " I think it absolutely 
necessary to send that note to D. G. only say 
practices instead of impertinent inquiries" 

For the space of three weeks after, he still 
continued under the greatest apprehensions of 



62 



being discovered by Garrick, occasionally ex- 
pressing his fears to Woodfall. 

If Garrick was at all likely to be acquainted 
with the hand-writing of Junius, or if there 
was any possibility that he could know the 
person of the messenger employed by Junius, 
we see at once sufficient causes for his alarm, 
and for the above precautions. Under no other 
supposition than that of Garrick's knowledge of 
him in his proper person, can we account 
for the excessive fears that were entertained of 
Garrick by the writer of these Letters. 

Supposing Dr. Francis to be the author of 
Junius, he would have had sufficient cause to 
dread being discovered by these means. Gar- 
rick and he were in the habit of meeting at the 
houses of Lord Holland, of Foote, and of other 
mutual friends. They were upon terms of 
intimacy, and even of friendship. Garrick had 
brought out, at Drury-lane, Dr. Francis's 
tragedy of Eugenia, in which he performed the 
principal part, that of Mercour. The acknow- 
ledgment which the author makes of his exer- 
tions upon this occasion, is a proof of the good 
understanding which subsisted between them. 
" Mr. Garrick is entitled to my sincerest grati- 
tude for his performance as an actor, and for his 
punctuality as a manager. But his assistance 
in a thousand alterations, his strong good sense, 



63 

with that spirit of theatrical criticism which is 
his peculiar natural genius, give him a right to 
a great share of that applause with which this 
play was received. The rest is friendship and 
esteem" 

That our author really entertained a favour- 
able opinion of Garrick, and only spoke of him 
with severity from the extreme apprehensions of 
being discovered, appears from his readiness to 
receive as an excuse for Garrick's conduct, the 
declaration of Woodfall, that the information of 
Junius having ceased writing was obtained by 
Garrick from mere accident, and not in conse- 
quence of any inquiry made by him into the 
circumstance. 

Indeed from a man of Junius' s temper, the 
remark which he makes, that Garrick " in order 
to curry favour made himself a greater rascal 
than he was," is a proof that he held him in no 
light estimation. It was customary with Junius 
to express his displeasure in language so far 
different from that which he employs on this 
occasion, that by the comparison, a phrase which 
elsewhere would seem by no means a kind or 
a courtly one, almost conveys a compliment. 



64 

The next circumstance that we shall notice- 
is one whereon it will be unnecessary to dwell. 
It is well known that Junius, from the singular 
freedom of some of his allusions to religious 
subjects, was accused, though without founda- 
tion, of being an atheist or a deist. It is worth 
remarking, that Churchill, with as little reason, 
stvles Dr. Francis, 

" The atheist chaplain of an atheist Lord." 

In a note on this passage we are informed, 
that the circumstances most likely to have 
occasioned the poet's enmity to Dr. Francis, 
were his having been employed as a writer in 
defence of Government, at the commencement 
of the present reign, and his connection with 
Lord Holland. 



Except such evidence as relates generally to 
the talents and principles of our respective 
authors, we know not of any circumstance that 
now remains to be considered. We hasten, 
therefore, to that portion of our work which 
regards the conformity of their style and senti- 
ments. 



65 



Under the head of internal evidence we pro* 
pose to consider, first, the peculiar expressions 
and style of composition, and secondly, the ge- 
neral opinions and principles of the writers. 

Remarkable expressions can scarcely be ex- 
pected to abound in Junius. He prided him- 
self on the extreme care and labour which he 
had bestowed on his compositions. They were 
pruned of every unnecessary epithet, in order 
that its luxuriance being repressed, the language 
might become more vigorous and expressive. 
The character of his style was exquisitely wrought 
and polished up to the perfection of ideal beauty. 
It were no wonder, therefore, if we scarcely dis- 
cern the lineaments of a family resemblance in 
the works which we purpose to compare with 
Junius, allowing they were all the acknowledged 
productions of the same mind. 

There is another reason why the author, who- 
ever he were, would, as far as possible, remove 
all resemblance between the style of Junius and 
his other works. He would justly fear that the 
internal evidence which all compositions, by the 
same hand, afford of their common origin, espe- 
cially to those who are accustomed to regard 
the nicer distinctions in phraseology, would be 



66 

an obvious means of discovering that secret, on 
the concealment of which he thought even his 
life depended. Under this impression, if he 
were sensible of any peculiarities, it would be 
the constant object of his solicitude to remove 
them. 

And if the principal writer were himself un- 
able to detect the varieties of phrase which dis- 
tinguished his productions, he had in the present 
instance an able coadjutor, whose critical saga- 
city would no doubt be unceasingly, and in ge- 
neral successfully exerted to point them out. 
This is at least probable, according to the view we 
have taken of the compound character of Junius. 

Thus carefully guarded from peculiar words 
and phrases, the pages of Junius cannot be ex- 
pected to furnish many proofs for our purpose. 
Yet with the works to which we have compared 
them, they exhibit so striking a coincidence in 
some uncommon instances, that, as far as this 
kind of evidence can prove any thing, we think 
we may be allowed to claim its suffrages. 

We beg to observe that the examples we shall 
adduce are taken at random, and by no means 
constitute the whole of each particular class. 
They are intended rather to serve as specimens 
of the more remarkable of those peculiarities of 



67 

expression which are to be found in the writings 
of Junius. 

The quotations from Dr. Francis are care- 
fully selected from the original pieces in his edi- 
tions of Horace and Demosthenes. 









1 . To conclude : in the unusual sense of to infer, 
to make an inference, 

Junius. Dr. Francis. 

I would engage your fa- Thus from the absurdity 
vourable attention to what of the fabulous system, he 
I am going to say to you 5 may conclude the falsehood 
and I intreat you not to be of the Christian religion, 
too hasty in concluding y from Horace, vol. i. p. 281*. 

the apparent tendency of 
this letter, to any possible 
interests or connexions of 
my own. 

Vol. i. p *264>. 

Besides the favourable 
presumption that ought to 
operate for possession, the 
whole conduct of the Trea- 
sury gives me a right to con- 
clude against them. 

Vol.? iii. p; 55, 



F 2 



68 



2. To pronounce : to affirm solemnly. 

Junius. Dr. Francis. 
As far as the probability We can easily pronounce 
of argument extends, we upon the ruin of that state, 
may safely pronounce, that in which corruption and 
a conjuncture which threat- bribery have tainted the ad- 
ens the very being of this ministration. The coward 
country, has been wilfully may plead his natural tem- 
prepared and forwarded by perament, in excuse for de- 
our own Ministry. serting the post in which 
Vol. ii. p. 191. he was placed ; the man of 
ambition may boast a wicked 
To pronounce fairly upon greatness in enslaving his 
their conduct, it was neces- country *, but the wretch 
sary to wait until we could who sells her is at once 
consider, &c. wicked and contemptible.* 
Junius, vol. ii. p. 135. Bern. vol. i. p. ISO. 

I may safely pronounce You, Sir, are capable of 

that that man knows no- pronouncing upon the merit 

thing of the condition of the of those political maxims, 

British commerce. so frequent in his orations, 

Vol. ii. p. 510. and whether he was really 

that able statesman the world 

in general hath allowed. 

Bern. Ded. y. 

* We quote occasionally more of a passage than is 
necessary to prove the coincidence of expression, for the 
sake of shewing the general opinions of the author. 



69 

I will not venture to de- We only pronounce with 
termine what may be the certainty, from the eighth 
real motive of this strange and fifteenth lines, that the 
conduct and inconsistent ode was written, &c. 
language ; buc I will boldly Hor. voU i. p. 229. 

pronounce that it carries with 
it a most odious appearance. 
Vol. ii. p. 507. 

I too, in my turn, will 
venture to pronounce, that 
nothing is so ardently de^ 
sired, &c. 

Vol. Hi. p. 278. 



3. Equally used with or, instead of as. 

Junius. Dr. Francis. 

O polished language ! and Our poet assures us, that 

equally fit for the nobie he knew how to reconcile 

Lord who speaks, or for the himself equally to a frugal, 

footman who hears it. or a sumptuous table. 

Vol. ii. p. 49S. Horace, vol. iv. p. 1 16, 



10 



4. Matter of, Sec. A very uncommon phrase 
in composition. 

Junius. Dr. Francis. 

Whether it be matter of Is it not therefore matter 
honour or reproach, it is at of indignation. 
least a singular circumstance, Dem. vol. i. p. 320. 

&c. 

Vol. iii. p. 83. 

For the matter of a recom- As the whole is matter of 
pense equivalent to his Go- conjecture. 
vernment, he repeatedly Dem. vol. i. p. 125. 

told your Lordships that the 
name of pension was grating 
to his ears. 

Vol. iii. p. 182. 

For the matter of expe- It maybe matter of curi- 

diency, an advocate for the osity to know the meaning 

present Ministry seems to of the expression, 

me to arraign his patrons Dem. vol. ii. p. 28. 
when he argues against it. 
Vol. iii. p. 85. 

It is matter of debate 
among the critics, whether 
our author pronounced this 
oration to the people. 

Vol. i. p. 173. 



71 

When you invade the This was always matter 

province of the jury, in of dispute among the philo- 

matter of libel, you, in ef- sophers. 

feet, attack the liberty of Horace, vol. i v. p. 158. 

the press. I should suspect my own 

Vol. ii. p. 169. taste if I did not laugh, 

where Maecenas, Virgil, and 

Horace, could find matter 

of mirth. 

Horace, vol. Hi. p. 92. 



5. Article of, &c. A more singular expression 
than the former. 

Junius. Dr. Francis. 

If you propose that in the That presence of mind, 

article of taxation they which, with a kind of in- 

should hereafter be left to stinct, supports us in the 

the authority of their re- very article of danger he 

spective assemblies, I must possessed in common with 

own, I think you had no others, 

business to revive a ques- Dem. vol. i. p. 25. 
tion, which should, and pro- 
bably would have lain dor- 
mant for ever. 

Vol. i. p.* 293. 

His grace is wonderfully But we must not reckon 

bountiful in the article of too exactly with poets upon 

lands. the article of vanity. 

Vol. iii. p. 123. Horace,™!. h\ p. 148. 



73 



In the article of firmness 

I think this young man's 

character is universally given 

up. 

Vol. iii. p. 283. 



6. They used where those is generally employed. 

Junius. Dr. Francis. 

They who object to de- They who fancy them- 

tached parts of Junius's last selves wise and happy be- 

letter, either do not mean cause they appear 'so to the 

him fairly, &c. public opinion, are here 

Vol. ii. p. 223. compared to persons, &c. 

Horace, vol. iv. p. 123. 

They who are acquainted They who have taste for 
with the state of politics at whatever is delicate and na- 
that period, will judge of tural in poetry, for whatever 
them somewhat differently, is noble and elegant in style, 
Vol. ii. p. 379. or flowing and harmonious 
in numbers, must acknow- 
ledge, &c. 

Horace, vol. ii. p. 170. 

They who are conversant 
in the language of poets, 
know that such transposi- 
tions are familiar to them. 
Horace, vol. ii. 325. 



73 



7. Or atonal, for oratorical. 
The word oratorial is not used by any author 
except Junius and Dr. Francis as far as we 
are able to ascertain. The word itself is not 
to be found in any dictionary. 

Junius. Dr. Francis. 

You will be as well able Upon this occasion we 

to judge of his oratorial may suppose them inflamed 

powers, as if you had heard by oratorial descriptions, 

him a thousand times. Dan. vol. i. p. 3 . 



Vol. iii. p. 287. 



It seems a sudden starting 
to some new matter ; or 
rather an oratorial breaking 
away from his subject, more 
strongly to catch that atten- 
tion of his judges which he 
with earnestness demands. 
Dem. vol. i. p. 166. 

Tiresias pleasantly means 
that oratorial circumlocu- 
tion of Ulysses. 

Horace, vol. iii. p. 268. 



8. Wild : an unusual epithet in this sense. 

Junius. Dr. Francis. 

The author is certainly at By this conduct, he left 
liberty to fancy cases, and the republic at his death, to 



74 



make whatever comparisons be governed by the temerity 

he thinks proper ; his sup- of Cleon, the timidity of 

positions still continue as Nicias, and the wild abili- 

distant from fact as his wild ties of Alcibiades. 
discourses are from solid Dem. i. p. 30. 

argument. 

Vol. i. p. 222. 



The liberty both of paint- 
ers and poets is by nature 
confined within certain 
bounds, and all beyond 
those bounds is the wildness 
of irregular imagination. 
Horace, vol.iv. p. 251. 



One of the ablest, most 
virtuous, and most tempe- 
rate men in the kingdom, 
supported by a steady band 
of uniform patriots, has 
made an attempt, in a cer- 
tain great assembly, to se- 
cure the subject, at least for 
the future, against such wild 
and indefinite claims. 

Vol. iii. p. 12. 



That the wildest spirit of Apprehensive of a tedious 
inconsistency should never uniformity, we run into a 
once have betrayed you wild and monstrous variety 
into a wise or honourable of images. 
a ction. Horace, vol. iv. 254. 

Vol. i. p. 140. His imagination is as wild 
and licentious as his num- 
bers are loose and irregular. 
Pref.toHor. p. 12. 



75 



9. False Concords. 

Junius. Dr. Francis. 

Yet every one of the On the contrary, every 
judges, who went the cir- other state imagined they 
cuit last summer, instead of had strength enough to at, 
instructing the several grand tempt, and wisdom to main- 
Juries in the old, legal, con- tain the universal empire of 
stitutional way, were order- Greece. 
ed to sound the praises of Denu i. p. 34. 
the House of Commons. 

Vol. iii. p. 290. 

The certainty of forfeit- Every word in these lines 

ing their own rights, when is of weight, and as exact 

they sacrifice those of the as if they were written in 

nation, is no check to a coldness of understanding, 

brutal degenerate mind. not in a warmth of imagina- 

Vol. i. Dedication^ p. 6. tion. 

Hor. ii. 179. 

There is nothing in your The rapidity of the num- 

attachments that savour of bers in the original are of 

obstinacy. inimitable beauty. 

Vol. iii. p. 433. Dem. i. 128, 

The audience is justly af- 
flicted with the calamities 
of a brave unhappy people, 



76 



and see with indignation the 
triumphal feast that cele- 
brates their ruin. 

Dem. ii. 88 *. 



* A party of bis cavalry surrounded a detachment of ours, 
consisting of two complete companies of seapoys, some cannon, 
and fifty European artillery-men, every man of whom were cut to 
pieces. 

Sir Philip Francis's Speeches on the Mahratta War, 
p. 16. 



10* Unresponsible, fyc. : not customary ex- 

pressions. 

Junius. Dr. Francis. 

The people of England It may not be unuseful 

have seen an administration to point out the particular 

formed, almost avowedly, passages in the last oration. 






under the direction of a 

dangerous, because private 

and unresponsible influence. 

Vol. iii. p. 9. 



Dem. ii. 157. 



Our poet invites him to 
return to Rome, and gives 
him such excellent maxims, 
as might be useful to a per- 
son who, by an uncheexful 
cast of mind, is apt to de- 
spair upon every accident or 
alteration of his fortune. 

Hor. i. 92. 



77 



11. Simple, in the Latin sense of the word. 



Junius. 
I did never question your 
understanding. Far other- 
wise. The Latin word sim- 
plex conveys to me an ami- 
able character, and never 
denotes folly. 

Vol. i. p *237. 



When it appeared that he 
had been frequently em- 
ployed in the same services, 
and that no excuse for him 
could be drawn, either from 
the innocence of his former 
life, or the simplicity of his 
character. 

Vol. i. p. 111. 

Innocence, even in its 

crudest simplicity, has some 

advantages over the most 

dexterous and practised guilt. 

Voliii. p. 13. 



Dr. Francis. 
The poet hath chosen, 
for an example of this truth, 
three virtues, probity, pru- 
dence, and simplicity. By 
the last he understands a 
frankness in our actions, 
which frequently passes over 
the decencies of life, rather 
through inattention than 
unpoliteness. 

Hor. iii. 46. 

Is it not more natural and 
simple to imagine. 

Dem. ii. 403. 



I have now given my senti- 
ments with freedom j all of 
them with perfect simplicity, 
and without apprehension of 
your displeasure. 

Dem. i. 77. 



78 

But the danger to this I have been entrusted 
country would cease to be with the direction of more 
problematical, if the crown important affairs than any 
should ever descend to a man of this age, and have 
prince, whose apparent sim- executed every trust with 
plicity might throw his sub- a religious purity, with in- 
jects off their guard. tegrity, and simplicity. 

Vol. ii. p. 324. Dem. ii. 493. 



su *ve verb, It *® e 

12. The bjunct re 9 is constantly 

found in both authors. 

Junius. Dr. Francis. 

It were unworthy of me It were, perhaps, impru- 

to press you farther. dent to inform an English 

Vol. i. p. 97. reader. 

Dem. i. 44. 

If the instance were not Perhaps it were impos- 
too important for an expe- sible that two nations, so 
riment, it might not be different in genius and man- 
amiss to confide a little on ners, ever should entertain 
their integrity. any sentiments of friendship 
Vol. i. p. 40. or esteem for each other. 

Dent, i. 30. 

Fact alone does not con- It were imprudent, there- 

stitute right. If it does, fore, to have entered farther 

general warrants were law* into this argument, 

ful. Dem. i. 198. 
Vol. ii. p. 215. 



79 



It were much to be de- 
sired that we had many such 
men. 

Vol. ii. p. 349. 



This assertion were abso- 
lutely false, and the odes of 
Pindar and Horace are a 
proof of the contrary. 

Hor. i. 232, 



It were to be wished that It were not possible to 
the parallel held good in all find a comparison more 
the circumstances. proper to figure to us the 

Vol. iii. 317. character of a poet, always 
great in his designs, sublime 
in his sentiments, pompous 
in his descriptions, rapid in 
his style, bold in his figures, 
and strong in his expres- 
sions. 

Hor. ii. 162. 



Mediate : to go between. 

Junius. Sir P. Francis. 

This mediating expedient Extremities are not to be 

will, for the present, take in governed by mediation. 

both opinions. Paper Currency, p. 49. 
Vol. i. 310, 



80 



14. Last: (ox utmost, by no means a common 
use of the word, 

Junius. Dr. Francis. 

I would pursue him In the last excess of cor* 

through life, and try the ruption. 

last exertion of my abilities Dem. i. 1 40. 

to preserve the perishable 

infamy of his name, and 

make it immortal. 

Vol. ii. p. 91. 

His finances were in the Some years afterwards he 

last disorder, and it is pro- broke through all restraints, 

bable that his troops might and his incontinence plung- 

find sufficient employment ed him into the last dis- 

at home. tresses. 

Vol. ii. p. 190. Hor. iv. 122. 

The bounds of human If Criticism, as a great 

science are still unknown ; rhetorician asserts, be the 

but this, assuredly, is the last effort of reflection and 

last limit of human depra- judgment, we shall equally 

vity. admire the critic as the poet 

Vol. hi. p. 190. in the following satire. 

Hor. iii. 148- 

This, I conceive, is the Our author ends the sa- 
last disorder of the state. tire with an irony of the 
Vol. iii. p. 176. last malignity. 

Hor. iii. 264. 



81 

The preceding are some of the most remark- 
able expressions in the pages before us. There 
are several others of less importance, in which 
both our writers indulge to a degree, that makes 
the words, though not in themselves remark- 
able, deserve attention. 

The epithets, uniform, ridiculous, and detest- 
able, and especially the latter, occur so very fre- 
quently in all these productions, that they form 
a conspicuous feature of identity in an inquiry 
like the present. — Whether or no is a phrase 
which for the same reason becomes remarkable. 
Hardly is in almost every instance employed in- 
stead of scarcely ; and enough constantly takes 
the place of sitfficie?it. Politics is a word which 
abounds in both authors, and is very generally 
used instead of policy. Forced is uniformly pre- 
ferred to its synonymes: and hath* especially 
in the earlier letters, is sometimes used by Junius 
instead of has. In Demosthenes and Horace it 
continually occurs. 

* " Whose folly or whose treachery hath reduced us to 

this state." 

Junius, vol. iii. p. 75. 

M The question is, whether we shall still submit to be 
guided by the hand which hath driven us to it ?" 

Junius, vol. iii. p. 79. 
G 



82 

f : 

The Letters of Junius, the writings of Dr. 
Francis, arrd those of Sir Philip, discover that 
each author was acquainted with the Latin, 
Greek, Italian, and French languages. They 
have, all of them, frequent quotations in these 
languages, and in no other. They all quote 
Shakespeare and Milton, but, with scarcely an 
exception, no other English poet. Metaphors 
and similies taken from the polite arts, the sci- 
ences, law, and religion, are found with equal 
frequency in the works of each of them. They 
alike excel in those profound pithy remarks or 
axioms which can only occur to men of strong 
minds, who have been a long time acquainted 
with the world. If Dr. Francis's notes to 
Horace and Demosthenes furnish but few pas- 
sages of this kind, strikingly similar to those of 
Junius, the number and excellence of his re- 
flections on subjects not of a political nature 
shew that it proceeded not from want of ability, 



(t The honourable lead you have taken in the affairs of 
America, hath drawn upon you the whole attention of 
the public " 

Junius, vol. iii. p. 105. 

" By what hints it hath been possible." 

Junius, vol. ii. p. 466. 



83 

but from the restraint which the confined na- 
ture of his undertaking imposed on the com- 
mentator. 

In the few publications we possess of Sir 
Philip Francis these examples, however, are 
much more numerous, considering the small 
compass in which they are contained. He 
abounds with metaphorical expressions and 
figurative allusions, delivered with that sententi- 
ous brevity which is observable in Junius. 

As examples of what has been above asserted, 
we have thrown together the following pas- 
sages, taken without order from the works of 
Dr. Francis and Sir Philip. 

cC In Juvenal the vices of his age are shewn 
in all their natural horrors. He commands his 
readers in the language of authority, and terri- 
fies them with images drawn in the boldness of 
a truly poetical spirit. He stands like a priest a 
at an altar sacrificing to his gods : but even a 
priest, in his warmest zeal of religion, might be 
forgiven if he confessed so much humanity, as 
not to take a pleasure in hearing the groans, 
and searching into the entrails of his victim. " * 

Preface to Horace. 

* These were the wretched ministers who served at the 
62 



84 

" I confess I mean to praise, for honest praise 
is not only one of the warmest incitements to 
virtue, but its most honourable reward. Great 
minds will receive it with their natural greatness, 
and only little spirits have an affectation of re- 
fusing it. The task, I own, is not without diffi- 
culty; but when the original is marked with 
strong and pleasing lines of life, a meaner hand 
may preserve the likeness. The integrity of his 
colouring, if I may be allowed the expression, is 
of more consequence than the glow and richness 
of it. Dedications would then be like pictures 
in miniature, which the future historian might 
draw out into larger proportion, grace, and dig- 
nity." 

Preface to Constantino 



altar, whilst the high-priest himself, with more than 

frantic fury, offered up his bleeding country a victim to 

America." 

Junius, vol. ii. p. 510. 

" Mine is an inferior ministerial office in the temple of 
Justice— I have bound the victim and dragged him to the 

altar." 

Junius, vol. ii. p. 443. 

" When a victim is marked out by the ministry, this 
judge will offer himself to perform the sacrifice?' 

Junius, vol. i. p. 60. 



85 

" Style is genius, and justly numbered among 
the fountains of the sublime. Expression in 
poetry is that colouring in painting, which dis- 
tinguishes a master's hand. " 

Preface to Horace. 

" Tear such a poet in pieces, and every scat- 
tered limb is animated with the spirit of poetry. 
The head of Orpheus, when floating on the 
water, uttered sounds of music and poetry." 

Horace, vol, iii. p. 69. 

" The arrangement of our thoughts is of more 
power in an oration than their number or va- 
riety. The images in a period, like figures in 
a painting, owe much of their effect to their 
harmony and keeping." 

Demosthenes, vol. i. p. 45. 

" With the worst speculative opinions, a man 
may be morally honest and virtuous." 

Horace, vol. i. p. 168. 

" Davus does not absolutely mean, that a man 
in one constant course of vice is less miserable 
than he who continually changes from vice to 
virtue, from virtue to vice; but that he is less 
sensible of his misery : because the other is per- 



86 

petually struggling with himself, and labouring 
between two extremes."* 

Horace, vol. iii. p. 305. 

" The theology of the ancients taught, that 
when a man was dead, his soul or the spiritual 
part of him, "went to heaven ; that his body con- 
tinued in the earth; and his image or shadow 

went to hell"\ 

Horace, vol. i. p. 11 6. 



* " It is the middle compound charcter which alone is 

vulnerable: the man who without firmness enough to 

avoid a dishonourable action, has feeling enough to be 

ashamed of it." 

Junius, vol. i. p. 101. 

u I still believe you to consist of that composition, 
which, without virtue enough to avoid prostitution, has 
still feeling enough to be ashamed of it." 

Junius, vol. iii. p. 401. 

" The most contemptible character in private life, and 
the most ruinous to private fortunes, is that which pos- 
sesses neither judgment nor inclination to do right, nor 
resolution enough to be consistent in doing wrong." 

Junius, vol. iii. p. 184. 

f c< Let him resemble the great demi-gods of antiquity, 
who had also two characters, and whilst one-half of them 



87 

" But perhaps we shall better see the variety 

of our poet's genius, by considering, if such an 

expression may be forgiven, the various genius of 

lyric poetry*." 

Preface to Horace. 

" Yet far more important to us the reflection, 
what noble efforts a love of country, a zeal for 
liberty, a contempt for slavery, and a just detest- 
ation of tyranny, are capable of inspiring f." 

Dem. p. 24. 

" Strange expedient, says Plutarch, to repre- 
sent it honourable and valuable in public, yet 
expect to make it appear contemptible and 
worthless in private t." 

Bern. p. 35. 



was taken up to heaven, the other half found its way to 

hell" 

Junius, vol. iiL p. 25. 

* " The first uniform principle, or, if I may call it, 

the genius of your life." 

Junius vol. i. p. 140. 

f Instances of imperfect sentences are found also in 
Junius, 



88 



" Liberty is the greatest of all blessings : it 

gives a relish to all other enjoyments. Mankind 

are prepossessed in favour of these sentiments, 

and tell us that they are born for freedom, and 

consider it as the most glorious privilege of 

their nature. Yet there is nothing which they 

so carelessly resign. Among all the slaves in 

life, they who have engaged themselves in the 

service of the great, are most to be lamented. 

Their whole being is one continual servitude; 

and he whom they call their patron is properly 

their tyrant/' 

Horace, voh iv. p, 62. 

" In this general servitude, the great, properly 
speaking, are only master slaves; and in pro- 
portion to their fortunes and honours, pay a 
larger tribute to their own ambition and vanity, 



" Lord Granby himself has some emoluments besides 
his power, and Sir Edward Hawke has his pension. 
Nobly earned, I confess, but not better deserved than by 
the labours which conquered America' 1 

Junius, vol. iii. p. 107. 

c< The same charges had been made by Junius and 
others several times before. Always the same reply" 

Junius, vol. iii. p. 212. 



89 



as well as to the pride and insolence of their 
superiors. They are only different from the rest 
of mankind, as their servitude is of larger extent, 
and disguised under more specious names *." 
Horace, vol. iii. p. 313. 

" It is filled with maxims of such political 
wisdom; with sentiments of liberty so truly 
honourable to human kind, that it must appear 
to every free people one of the noblest, most 
valuable remains of antiquity f." 

Dem. vol. i. p. 246. 

" The vicious and corrupted passions of his 
heart are of sacred, religious authority to this 
man of wealth I." 

Horace, vol. iv. p, 17. 

* " Falsehood is a servile vice, and to the imputation 
of that vice, people in a slavish condition, whether low or 
high (for servitude, as well as hell, has its ranks and 
dignities) will always be subject." 

Junius, vol. iii. p. 

f The stringing together of two or three adjectives 
without a conjunction, is very common in Junius as well 
as in Dr. Francis. 

" Though urged, insulted, braved to it, by every 
stimulus that could touch the feelings of a man." 

Junius, vol. iii. p. 285. 



90 

" As if we had converted our whole inherit- 
ance into an annuity, and had nothing but a 
life interest in the salvation of the country *." 

Sir Philip Francis on Paper Money. 

€c With a callous heart, there can be ne 
genius in the imagination, or wisdom in the 



" There is one general, easy way of answering Junius, 
which his opponents have constantly had recourse to, &c." 

Junius, vol. iii. p. 427. 
" These are your words, given under your hand, as the 
solemn, deliberate opinion of his Majesty's Secretary at 
War." 

Junius, vol. iii. p. 447. 

* " The minister, perhaps, may have reason to be 
satisfied with the success of the present hour, and with 
the profits of his employment. He is the tenant of the 
day, and has no interest in the inheritance" 

Junius, vol. ii. p. 133. 

" When you leave the unimpaired, hereditary freehold 
to your children, you do but half your duty, &c. — 

The power of King, Lords, and Commons, is not 

an arbitrary power. They are the trustees, not the 
owners of the estate. The fee-simple is in US. They 
cannot alienate, they cannot waste." 

Junius, vol. i. pp. 2— $, Dedication. 



91 

mind ; and therefore the prayer, with equal 
truth and sublimity, says, ' Incline our hearts 
unto wisdom f / " 

Sir P. Francis on Paper Money, p. 53. 

" A brave man with truth of his side, need 

not wish to be eloquent. Resolute thoughts 

find words for themselves, and make their own 

vehicle. Impression and expression are relative 

ideas. He who feels deeply will express strongly. 

The language of slight sensations is naturally 

feeble and superficial i." 

Ibid. p. 54. 

* c The crimes of individuals, however enor- 
mous, are not necessarily mortal to great com- 
munities. The death of nations is impunity. 
Still we are lulled with fine promises and flatter- 
ing prospects. Hope is a dangerous narcotic, 
and not only sets the mind asleep, but, like 
opium to the Turk, furnishes the brain with 
many delightful visions. Thus it is that a 



* <i 



— if I were .not satisfied, that really to inform 
the understanding corrects and enlarges the heart ." 

Junius, vol. ii. p. 448. 

- •(• " Whenever he changes his servants he is sure to 
have the people, in that instance, of his side." 

Junius, voi.iii. p: 316. 



92 

nation may walk in its sleep, until it reaches 
the edge of a precipice without the power of 
turning back. These treacherous delusions are 
deadly symptoms. When nothing but a drastic 
resolution can save the animal, false hope sup- 
plies him with palliatives, and bars the last 
extremity of its last resource, by the exclusion 
of despair # ." 

Sir P. Francis on Paper Money, p. 47. 

" His principle, if he be in earnest, which I 
should very much doubt of any person in pos- 
session of his senses, would oblige him, in many 
other cases, to maintain that the shadow of a 
good thing is just as good as the substance; or 
that water, forced into the system, performs the 
functions of blood, with equal effect, and greater 

# " After all, Sir, will you not endeavour to remove or 
alleviate the most dangerous symptoms, because you can- 
not eradicate the disease ?" 

Junius, vol. ii. p. 224. 

" It does not follow that the symptoms may not be 
softened, although the distemper cannot be cured." 

Junius, vol. ii. p. 354. 

" He advertises for patients, collects all the diseases of 

the heart, and turns the royal palace into an hospital for 

incurables." 

Junius, vol. ii. p. 439. 



93 



facility. With the help of tapping it might do 
so, as long as the stamina lasted : but, in these 
cases, the patient is apt to give the lie or the 
slip to the physician, and to die of a dropsy 
with the panacea in his bowels." 

Sir P. Francis on Paper Money, p. 4. 

u But granted; war is no longer a calamity; 
or at worst a necessary evil, incident to the 
system : it is the physic and phlebotomy that 
clears the intestines and opens the veins, and 
saves the body politic from bursting of a ple- 
thora." 

lb. p. 27. 



<( After all, Mr. Printer, these are feverish symp- 
toms> and look as if the disorder were coming to a crisis. 
Even this last effort is the fore-runner of their speedy- 
dissolution ; like the false strength of a delirium, which 
exerts itself by fits, and dies in convulsions." 

Junius , vol. ii. p. 66. 

" The disorder must have quitted his head, and fixed 

itself in his heart. ,, 

Junius, p. 109. 

c( This, I conceive, is the last disorder of the State. 
The consultation meets but to disagree. Opposite medi- 
cines are prescribed, and the last fixed on is changed by 
the hand that gives it." 

Junius, p. 176. 



94 

" The sensation of pain is the providential 
warning against danger, the sentry or out- post, 
that gives notice of the approach of an enemy. 
The being who feels none, or who is suddenly 
relieved from it, or who by intoxication has 
deadened his senses, knows nothing of his own 
case, and dies of a mortification below, with a 
languid flush in his face that looks like a return 
of health/ ' 

Sir P. Francis on Paper Money, p. 45. 

" When all your instruments of amputation are pre- 
pared, when the unhappy patient lies at your feet, without 
the possibility of resistance, by what infallible rule will 
you direct the operation ? When you propose to cut 
away the rotten parts, can you tell us what parts are 
perfectly sound? Are there any certain limits, in fact or 
theory, to inform you at what point you must stop, at 
what point the mortification ends V 

Junius, vol. ii. p. 448. 

" A sick man might as well expect to be cured by a 
consultation of doctors. They talk, and debate, and 
wrangle, and the patient expires." 

Junius, vol. ii. p. 491. 

" When the poison of their doctrines has tainted the 
natural benevolence of his disposition ; when their insidi- 
ous counsels have corrupted the stamina of his govern- 
ment, what antidote can restore him to his political 
health and honour, but the firm security of his English 

subjects ?" 

Junius , vol. ii. p. 125. 



95 

" Most men are ready to admit that plainness 
and simplicity are good moral qualities, and not 
at all unwilling to encourage them in others. 
But it is not so generally known or admitted, 
that these qualities, instructed by experience or 
enlighted by reflection, are the surest evidence 
of a sound understanding. A cunning rogue may 
cheat a wiser man of his money ; but in an ab- 
stract question to be determined by judgment, 
it is not possible that skill and artifice can finally 
prevail over plain reason, which, in the ordinary 
transactions of life, is called common sense*." 

Sir P. Francis on Paper Money, p. % 

iC If my voice could contribute to his honour, he 
should have it without reserve, for the spirit that 
prompts him to undertake such a task as I know 
it to be, and at such a time; and if it were pos- 



* (t Mr. Home, it seems, is very unable to comprehend 
how an extreme want of conduct and discretion can con- 
sist with the abilities I have allowed him ; nor can he con- 
ceive that a very honest man with a very good understand- 
ing may be deceived by a knave. — Distinguished talents 
are not necessarily connected with discretion." 

Junius, v. ii. p. 304. 



96 

sible to give him support in the execution of it 

by any effort of mine, he might be sure of it*." 

Sir P. F.'s Speeches on Mahratta War, p. 19. 

" When a purpose is to be served, it is not 
very difficult to find a principle to answer it." 
Sir P. F's Speeches, p. 46*. 

" In the perpetual revolutions of human af- 
fairs, it often happens that the forms of power 
survive the fact \" 

Speeches, p. 64. 



* " I should have hoped that even my name might carry 
some authority with it, if I had not seen how very lit- 
tle weight, &c." 

Junius, v. i. p. 71. 

"My vote will hardly recommend him to an increase of 
his pension, or to a seat in the cabinet. But if his ambi- 
tion be upon a level with his understanding ; — if he judges 
of what is truly honourable for himself with the same su- 
perior genius, which animates and directs him, to elo- 
quence in debate, to wisdom in decision, even the pen of 
Junius shall contribute to reward him." 

Junius, v. ii. p. 311. 

•f " How long, and to what extent the King of England 
may be protected by the forms, when he violates the 
spirit of the constitution, deserves to be considered. v 

Junius, vol. p. 42. 



97 

<c yp e g j n t their country to charge 
them with lawless ambition ; and we rob them 
of their property, in order to charge them with 
insatiable avarice. The day of retribution, I be- 
lieve, will come, when you are least prepared 

for it." 

Speeches, p. 69. 

" This is a wide circumference -, but the pas- 
sage across it shall be short and rapid. A bird's 
eye view of the subject will be sufficient/' 

Speeches, p. 26. 

In the present practice, the wholesome rela- 
tion of guilt and punishment is inverted. The 
few escape, and the multitude suffer *.*' 

Sir P. Francis on Paper Money, p. 46. 

" Do whatever you think right, for its own 
sake, and never look to popularity for support 
or rev/ard. Honest fame will follow you, if you 
deserve it.'* 

Sir P. F« on Paper Money, p. 48. 

" If it were possible for me to personify the 



* " You have no enemies, sir, but those who think it 
flattery to tell you that the character of king dissolves the 
natural relation between guilt and punishment" 

Junius, vol. i. p. 44. 
H 



98 

British nation, and if I were at liberty to offer my 

humble advice to so great a person, the first 

thing I should recommend to him would be to 

adopt the maxim of Lord Chatham, to stop for 

a moment, in order to take a general view of his 

situation with his own eyes, and to reflect on it 

himself*." 

Paper Money, p. 3. 

" Believing, as I do, that some internal cata- 
strophe hangs over us, which might possibly be 
averted or provided for by wisdom at the helm, 
but which ignorance and folly can only accele- 
rate, I call on the nation to look at their govern- 
ment. Is it an abuse to be endured, that any 
set of men, with no other title or shelter but the 
word prerogative, should dare to hold and retain 
the executive power of the state, with a hundred 
peers protesting against them, without the con* 
fidence of the House of Commons, and them- 
selves on their trial at the bar of that House ? At 
the public shame of such a sight, indignation 
sickens into scorn. Resentment dies of con- 
tempt. Such authors, of such ruin, take axcay all 

* The above passage will remind the reader of the in- 
troduction to Junius' s celebrated letter to the king, and 
©f a similar address in the preface to the Letters. 

See Junius, v. ii. p. 62, and v. i. p. 42. 



99 



dignity from distress, and make calamity ridicu- 
lous*." 

Paper Money > p. 46. 



The political principles of Sir Philip Francis 
appear to agree exactly with those of Junius, 
and his whole life has been a practical exposi- 
tion of the sincerity of his professions. 

During his residence in India, his wisdom, his 
zeal, his spirit, and integrity, were amply mani- 
fested. He received such encomiums on his con- 
duct from Mr. Fox, Mr. Sheridan, Mr. Wind- 
ham, Mr. Burke, and the whole of the committee 
for the impeachment of Mr. Hastings, as have 
seldom fallen to the lot of any man. But with 
the exception of an empty title, — the commenda- 
tion of the wise and good, and the mens sibi con- 
scia recti are all the rewards this virtuous man 
has received. 

The behaviour of Sir Philip throughout the 
whole of his opposition to that system of ambi- 

* ** t cannot express my opinion of the present ministry 
more exactly than in the words of Sir Richard Steele — 
* that we are governed by a set of drivellers, whose folly 
takes away all dignity from distress, and makes even cala- 
mity ridiculous J " 

Philo Junius , v. i. p. 231. 

H 2 



100 



tion, perfidy, and cruelty, which at one time 
characterized the government of India, is pre- 
cisely that which Junius himself would have 
adopted, had he been placed in a similar situa- 
tion, 

" Engaged in the defence of an honourable 
cause, I would take a decisive part. — I should 
scorn to provide for a future retreat, or to keep 
terms with a man, who preserves no measures 
with the public. I would pursue him through 
life, and try the last exertion of my abilities to 
preserve the perishable infamy of his name, and 
make it immortal. 5 ' 

Junius, vol. ii. p. 9. 

With unwearied pains Sir Philip Francis 
endeavoured to rectify those abuses which were 
connived at and encouraged by the Governor- 
General of India, For seven years he was en- 
gaged in a constant personal opposition to a 
man whose actions were, in the estimation of 
many persons, injurious to the real interests 
and honour of this country, and dreadfully 
oppressive to the miserable natives whom he 
governed, What Sir Philip performed in the 
sacred cause of liberty and humanity is uni- 
versally known, and has received the approba- 



101 

tion it deserved. What he endured from the 
uniform failure of his beneficent plans, and from 
being compelled to witness the proceedings that 
his nature shrunk from, is of far more value in 
the estimation of Him xvho knoxveth the heart, 
though it enters but little into the calculations of 
mankind, and is followed by no testimonies of 
public gratitude. In the impeachment of Mr. 
Hastings Sir Philip Francis made a conspi- 
cuous figure, and with the purest of all possible 
motives, took a " decisive part" against him. 
The following letter from the gentlemen of the 
committee appointed to conduct the impeach- 
ment, will shew in what estimation they held the 
conduct of Sir Philip Franc is* 

" Sir, 

" There is nothing in the orders of the House 
which prevents us from resorting to your assist- 
ance ; and we should shew very little regard to 
our honour, to our duty, or to the effectual exe- 
cution of our trust, if we omitted any means 
that are left in our power to obtain the most be- 
neficial use of it. 

" An exact local knowledge of the affairs of 
Bengal is requisite in every step of our proceed- 
ings ; and it is necessary that our information 
should come from sources not only competent 



102 

but unsuspected. We have perused, as our 
duty often led us to do, with great attention, 
the records of the Company, during the time in 
which you executed the important office com- 
mitted, to you by Parliament ; and our good 
opinion of you has grown in exact proportion 
to the minuteness and accuracy of our re- 
searches. We have found that as far as in you 
lay, you fully answered the ends of your arduous 
delegation. An exact obedience to the authori- 
ty placed over you by the laws of your country, 
wise and steady principles of government, an 
inflexible integrity in yourself, and a firm re- 
sistance to all corrupt practices in others* 
crowned by an uniform benevolent attention to 
the rights, properties, and welfare of the natives 
(the grand leading object in your appointment) 
appear eminently throughout those records. 
Such a conduct, so tried, acknowledged, and re- 
corded, demands our fullest confidence. 

" These, Sir, are the qualities, and this is the 
conduct on your part, on which we ground our 
wishes for your assistance. On what we are to 
ground our right to make any demand upon 
you, we are more at a loss to suggest. Our sole 
titles, we are sensible, are to be found in .the 
public exigencies, and in your public spirit. 
Permit us, Sir, to call for this further service in 



103 

the name of the people of India, for whom your 
parental care has been so long distinguished 
and in support of whose cause you have en- 
countered so many difficulties, vexations, and 
dangers. 

" We have expressed sentiments in which we 
are unanimous, and which, with pride and plea- 
sure, we attest under all our signatures, entreat- 
ing you to favour us as frequently as you can 
with your assistance in the committee; and you 
shall have due notice of the days on which your 
advice and instructions may be more particu- 
larly necessary. We have the honour to be, 
u With the most perfect respect, Sir, 
" Your most faithful and obliged 
humble servants, 

" EDMUND BURKE, Chairman. 

Then follow the names of the rest of the com- 
mittee. 



104 

Let us now consider in what other respects 
the political opinions and principles of Sir 
Philip Francis correspond with those of Ju- 
nius. 

In a letter to Mr. Wilkes Junius speaks with 
approbation of the " Society of the Bill of 
Rights." " I think," says he, " the plan was 
admirable: that it has already been of signal 
service to the public, and may be of much 
greater ; and I do most earnestly wish that you 
would consider of and promote a plan for form- 
ing constitutional clubs all through the king- 
dom. A measure of this kind would alarm go- 
vernment more, and be of more essential service 
to the cause, than any thing that can be done re- 
lative to new-modelling the House of Commons*" 

Vol* i. p. 280*. 

We may infer from the above, that Junius 
either was, or would have been, a member of one 
of these societies. 

In this respect Sir Philip Francis followed 
the conduct which Junius approved. — He was 
a very active and a principal member of the So- 
ciety of the Friends of the People. But his 
ardent love of liberty did not betray him inta 



105 

the promotion of any plans inconsistent with 
the established government of the nation. He 
was a friend to reform ; but it was such a reform 
as Junius recommended, — a reform that should 
not endanger the venerable fabric it was meant 
to repair. In a spirited letter to Mr. Burke, 
who had charged him with a bias to the indivi- 
dual representation of the people, Sir Philip 
says, <c of me, in particular, he must have known, 
and in candour he ought to have acknowledged, 
that it is not possible for any man to go further 
than I have done, to reject, to resist, and to explode 
every project of that nature, and every principle 
and argument set up to support it; a project, 
however, so chimerical, and so utterly imprac- 
ticable, that it is superfluous to load it with 
charges of danger and malignity." 

That Sir Philip, though his ardour is abated, 
and his hopes are fled, entertains the same senti- 
ments at the present day, is evident from his 
last publication. "As to parliamentary reform, 
I have tried it enough to be convinced that it 
never can be adopted on any sound principle, 
that would at once be safe in its operation, and 
effective to its purpose, 

" The people are well enough represented. 
The milk throws up the cream. No change in 



ioo 



the form will mend the materials. I am sure 
you will find it, as I have done, a vain attempt 
to build Grecian temples with brickbats and 
rubbish."— 

" I am as little sanguine as ever about the 
success of a reform in the construction of the 
House of Commons, But, knowing of no other 
remedy, I cannot answer those who say, that 
when the exigency leaves you no choice, the 
last chance is to be taken. The opinions of wise 
and thoughtful men on this great question are 
changing every day. For myself, I can only 
say that / did not abandon my principles with my 
hopes; and that> whenever the nation shall be 
generally disposed to adopt the measure, I shall 
be found zvhere I was left, and ready to take part 
in the execution ofit" 

Sir P. Francis on Paper Money, p. 4{h 

The sentiments of Junius on this subject are 
fully developed in his letters to Mr. Wilkes. It 
is well known that they were not levelling 
enough for many of those who styled themselves 
tfie Friends of the People. 

" That the people are not equally and fully 
represented is unquestionable. But let us take 
care ivhat zee attempt. We may demolish the ve- 



107 

ner able fabric we intend to repair ; and where is 
the strength and virtue to erect a better in its 
stead? 1 should not, for my own part, be so 
much moved at the corrupt and odious practices 
by which inconsiderable men get into Parlia- 
ment, nor even at the want of a perfect repre- 
sentation, (and certainly nothing can be less 
reconcileable to the theory, than the present 
practice of the constitution,) if means could be 
found to compel such men to do their duty, in 
essentials at least, when they are in Parliament. 
Now, Sir, I am convinced, that if shortening the 
duration of Parliaments (which in effect is keep- 
ing the representative under the rod of the con- 
stituent,) be not made the basis of our new 
parliamentary jurisprudence, other checks or 
improvements signify nothing. On the con- 
trary, if this be made the foundation, other mea- 
sures may come in aid, and, as auxiliaries, be of 
considerable advantage. 9 ' 

Junius, vol. i. p. 286*. 

The conduct of Sir Philip Francis in advo- 
cating the abolition of the Slave Trade, is not 
the least glorious trait in the history of this dis- 
tinguished patriot and philanthropist. " Every 
motive by which the conduct of men is usually 



108 

determined was united on one side, and power- 
fully pressed upon him to engage him to take 
part against his opinion. Connections of every 
sort, friends who were dear to him, and who 
thought their fortunes were at stake, solicitations 
the most urgent, from persons to whom he was 
bound by many ties, and possibly the prospect 
of advantage to himself or to his family at a 
future day to be forfeited or preserved ;— all 
these were in one scale, and nothing in the other 
but the justice of the cause and the protection 
of creatures, who would never know that he had 
endeavoured to serve them, or whose gratitude 
could never reach him." But no personal con- 
siderations could weigh with Sir Philip while 
the cause of liberty and humanity stood in need 
of his assistance. He persevered in the discharge 
of his duty, and had at length the satisfaction of 
seeing his efforts crowned with success, though 
with the loss to himself of a considerable estate in 
the West Indies. Whether Sir Ph i l i p Fr a n c i s 
be identified with Junius, or not,, the purity o( 
his principles, the disinterestedness of his con- 
duct, and the goodness of his heart, claim for 
him as high a character as it is possible for truth 
to confer on any man. 

We remark, with much concern, that tone of 
despondence which occasionally pervades the 



109 

language of Sir Philip Francis. A good man 
may express his regret when villany or folly is 
triumphant ; but while he laments his want of 
success, he should be careful not to seem to re- 
pent of his exertions. The example is disheart- 
ening when a man whose whole life has been 
spent in endeavours to benefit mankind pub- 
licly expresses his dissatisfaction at what is past, 
as if he were sorry for the course he had pur- 
sued ; it is too apt to check the kindling of that 
patriotism and philanthropy in the breasts of 
younger men, which would animate them to the 
performance of all great and good actions. Lest 
we be suspected of complaining without cause, 
we subjoin some specimens of this apparent dis- 
contentedness from the recorded speeches of 
Sir Philip. 

" By endeavouring through all that portion 
of his life (thirty years) to maintain right against 
wrong, he had sacrificed his repose, and forfeited 
all hopes of reward or personal advantage ; but 
he had taken his resolutions, and would do so no 
more. He woidd never more take an active part, 
much less a lead, in any discussions of Indian 
questions.' * 

" With regard to personal proceedings against 
any man, he ivas resolved to take no part in them, 



110 

The impeachment of Mr, Hastings had cured 
him of that folly. It was he, in fact, who had 
been tried, and Mr. Hastings acquitted." 

" His spirits were exhausted, and his mind was 
subdued, by a long, unthankful, and most invi- 
dious application to one pursuit, in which he had 
never been able to do any good.* 9 

Pari Debates, IQth March, 1806. 

In the last publication by Sir Philip Francis, 
we find examples of the same melancholy tone. 

" Not long ago an opportunity came of itself, 
of stating some new opinions of my own on the 
subject of a reform of the House of Commons, 
to a member of Parliament, of whose integrity 
no man can be better satisfied than I am. I 
took the liberty of saying to him, c Sir, do 
whatever you think right, for its own sake, and 
never look to popularity for support or reward. 
Honest fame will follow you if you deserve it. 
The very people whom you serve may be 
turned at any moment against you, by a cry or 
a signal, and run you down for your pains. 
Your own hounds had as lief hunt the huntsman 
as the hare/ " 

On Paper Currency, p. 47* 



Ill 

Not that his principles were changed. He 
will be found zvhere he was left. But he was dis- 
pirited with the vain endeavours to do good to a 
world that was determined not to be a friend to 
itself. Dr. Johnson observes, that the misan- 
thrope is usually a man of a warm heart, who in 
his early years thought too favourably of human 
nature. This cause existed in its highest degree 
in the present instance, and an unbounded 
goodness of disposition has alone prevented it 
from leading to the same conclusion. 

In noticing this querulousness, at different 
periods, and the language in which it is ex- 
pressed, it is impossible to avoid being struck 
with its conformity to that feeling which appears 
to have dictated the last letter of Junius to his 
publisher. 

" I have seen the signals thrown out for your 
old friend and correspondent. Be assured that 
I have had good reason for not complying with 
them. In the present state of things, if I were 
to write again, I must be as silly as any of the 
horned cattle that run mad through the city, or 
as any of your wise aldermen. I meant the cause 
and the public. Both are given up. I feel for 
the honour of this country, when I see that 
there are not ten men in it who will unite and 



112 

stand together upon any one question. But it is 
all alike, vile and contemptible. 

" You have never flinched, that I know of; 
and I shall always rejoice to hear of your 
prosperity. " 

Junius, vol. i. p. *255. 

This was not a casual expression of disgust : 
it arose from a feeling natural to the warm and 
irritable heart of Junius. — In the course of his 
correspondence with Woodfall he displays fre- 
quent instances of a similar dissatisfactions. 

" What an abandoned, prostituted ideot is 
your Lord Mayor. The shameful mismanage- 
ment which brought him into office, gave me 
the first and an unconquerable disgust." 

Junius, vol. i. p. *250. 

" Surely you have misjudged it very much 
about the book. I could not have conceived 
it possible that you could protract the publica- 
tion so long. At this time, particularly before 
Mr. Sawbriclge's motion, it would have been of 
singular use. You have trifled too long with 
the public expectation. At a certain point of 
time the appetite palls. I fear you have already 
lost the season. The book, I am sure, will lose 



113 

the greater part of the effect I expected from 
it. — But I have done." 

Junius, vol. i. p. # 249. 

" I really doubt whether I shall write any 
more under this signature. I am weary of at- 
tacking a set of brutes whose writings are too 
dull to furnish me even with the materials of 
contention, and whose measures are too gross and 
direct to be the subject of argument, or to 
require illustration." 

Junius, vol. i. p. *174. 

It is the character of feelings that are so 
quick and delicate, to subside as suddenly as 
they are excited. Though Junius complains 
so freely of the delay in the publishing of a com- 
plete edition of his letters, yet what he says in 
another letter is applicable on this occasion. 
" Make yourself easy about me, I believe you 
are an honest man, and I never am angry.*" 

Junius, vol. i. p. 212. 

His inclination to relinquish writing under 
the signature of Junius, was only the ebullition 
of the moment; and was perhaps entertained 
without any seriousness. But his disgust at the 
conduct of the citizens was much more deeply 



* Junius, vol. i. p. 212. 
I 



114 



rooted. Yet even this impression, unconquer- 
able as he thought it, vanished away in some 
degree, for in the course of a few days he writes 
thus to Woodfall : 

" If I saw any prospect of uniting the city 

once more, / "would readily continue to labour in 

the vineyard. Whenever Mr. Wilkes can tell 

me that such an union is in prospect, he shall 

hear of me." 

Junius, vol. i. p. 253. 

This declaration is in the very spirit of that 
with which Sir Philip Francis concludes his 
opinion of a reform. 

" For myself, I can only say that I did not 
abandon my principles with my hopes , and that 
whenever the nation shall be generally dispos- 
ed to adopt the measure, I shall be found 
where I was left, and ready to take part in the 
execution of it.'* 

On Paper Currency, p. 49, 

We cannot close this part of our subject with- 
out expressing our concern that we are so little 
able to do justice to the character of this most 
consistent patriot of our time. We feel a 
respect and a regard for him which not even 



115 

the certainty that he were Junius could heighten, 
much as we wish that the circumstance were 
proved beyond the possibility of doubt, by the 
addition of that direct evidence which it is not 
at present in our power to produce. 

We shall terminate this part of our work with 
a quotation from the speech of Lord Minto on 
the character of Sir Philip Francis. When 
our readers peruse it, let them reflect on that 
personification of Junius which the study of his 
letters has created in their minds, and observe 
with what peculiar propriety the description 
here given would apply to that exalted cha- 
racter. 

" In delivering my opinion of my honour- 
able friend, I am not so madly vain as to think 
it can add any thing to his honours ; it is to do 
myself honour that I say here, what I have often 
said elsewhere, that of all the great and consider- 
able men whom this country possesses, there is 
not one in the empire who has a claim so much 
beyond all question, who can shew a title so 
thoroughly authenticated, as this gentleman, to 
the admiration, the thanks, the reward, the love 
of his country and of the world. If I am asked 
for proof, I say, the book of his life is open 
before you ; it has been read, it has been 



116 

examined in every line by the diligent inquisi- 
tion, the searching eye, of malice and envy. 
Has a single blot been found? Is there one 
page which has not been traced by virtue and 
by wisdom ? — Virtue, Sir, not of the cold and 
neutral quality, which is contented to avoid 
reproach by shrinking from action, and is the 
best ally of vice — but virtue fervent, full of 
ardour, of energy, of effect : wisdom, Sir, not 
the mere flash of genius and of talents, though 
these are not wanting; but wisdom informed, 
deliberate, and profound. I know, Sir, the 
warmth imputed to, nay possessed by that 
character ; it is a warmth which does but bur- 
nish all his other virtues. His heart is warm, 
his judgment is cool, and the latter of these 
virtues none will deny, except those who have 
not examined, or wish to disbelieve it." 

Speech of Sir Gilbert Elliot (now Lord 
Minto), Dec. 12, 1787. 



117 



To illustrate the political character of Dr. 
Francis, we shall have recourse to the sentiments 
he has avowed in his editions of Horace and 
Demosthenes. There are some parts of each 
of those works, but more especially of the latter, 
wherein he displays his own sentiments in some 
fine original disquisitions. It is unnecessary to 
lay our extracts before the reader in any parti- 
cular order : separately taken, they will exhibit 
the conformity of his opinion with that of Ju- 
nius, on some particular subjects; and alto- 
gether they will furnish a complete view of the 
political principles of the author. 

" The true morality of politics, in the subject, is 

the preservation of liberty ; and the safety of the 

people, whom Providence hath committed to their 

care, is the first duty of princes. They cannot 

know any better, they should not acknowledge 

any other m orals," 

Dem. vol. i. p. 304. 



"In her political constitution, Lacedemon very 
nearly resembled that of Britain, while Britain 
could have boasted her constitution was unviolated. 



118 

Her kings, although entrusted, as generals, 
with that absolute command in war, which is 
necessary to a prompt and vigorous execution, 
yet held a very limited authority in peace. 
Her senate preserved a kind of balance between 
any apprehensions of tyranny from their mo» 
narchs, and of anarchy in the people ; while the 
people themselves maintained their rights of li- 
berty, and had a proper share in the administra- 
tion, without that confusion to which pure demo- 
cracies are liable, for they acted by their repre- 
sentatives. To give the senate due influence, all 
employments and magistracies were exercised 
by them only : they were the great council of 
the nation, nor were the kings permitted to un- 
dertake any expedition without their consent. 
They held their station for life, but with a con- 
sciousness of being indebted for it to the people, 
by whom they were elected, and for whose inte- 
rests they were therefore supposed to have a pe- 
culiar concern." 

Pref. to Dem. xvi. 






" But soon, according perhaps to the lot of 
our humanity, wealth and happiness begot ex- 
cess and luxury; dissipation and expence prd- 



119 

duced venality and corruption ; a total dege- 
neracy of manners ensued, an indolence and in- 
attention to all public affairs. Poverty and pro- 
bity became equal objects of contempt 3 while 
public virtue and love of country were consi- 
dered as the language of a party, or what we 
call opposition. They were only not treated 
with the levity and insignificance of laughing, 
or as subjects of ridicule. That hardiness was 
reserved for another people." 

Pre/, to Dem. xliv. 

u They marched under the conduct of Hip- 
pias, who, to recover the unjust domination 
which his father, Pisistratus, had usurped over 
the Athenians, was not ashamed to debase the 
honour of the Grecian name in doing homage to 
a barbarian monarch, but even implored his as- 
sistance to lay waste his native country, and en- 
slave his fellow- citizens. Execrable ambition ! 
Detestable and pernicious tyrant ! Spite of 
himself, however, he served the cause of liberty 
at the battle of Marathon. The Athenians be- 
held him with indignation among the Persian 
troops, and his presence very probably inspired 
them with that impetuosity with which they 
rushed forward, and ran upon the enemy. This 
manner of attack was till then unknown to the 



120 

Grecian military ; and we may therefore believe 
this first instance of it proceeded even more 
from the presence of their tyrant, than from the 
common ardours of liberty, and the horrors of 
slavery. They had the pleasure of sacrificing 
him not only as a victim to their own vengeance, 
but to the rights of human kind, which he had 
boldiy and impiously violated. 

Prefi to Dem. xxii. 



*■ These revolutions happened in the compass of 
a few years. Their periods are not exactly marked. 
They are brought under one view for the sake 
of the following reflections. That different sets 
of men, born in the bosom of liberty, educated 
in principles of republican equality, and inspired 
from their infancy with a detestation of arbitrary 
power, should uniformly pursue the same plan of 
tyranny and domination, is ma ter of astonish- 
ment. But when we consider that many of 
them were men of probity, honour, and virtue, 
before they were chosen by their fellow-citizens 
to execute the sacred trust of government, and 
that instantly they threw off all regard to jus- 
tice, religion, and even to common humanity, we 
must be tempted to think that nature ha h im- 
planted in the heart of man an appetite to en- 



121 

slave and oppress his fellow creatures. But of 
greater importance is the conclusion from these 
and numberless other examples, that we should 
never intrust a human creature, even in times of 
the uttermost distress, with any powers unknown 
to the constitution, in hopes of a precarious, un- 
certain relief. By this kind of confidence, the 
liberties of Greece and Rome were totally lost; 
and what nation now upon earth will presume to 
say they may not be enslaved in the same manner?" 

Ibid. p. xxxii. 



" When a nation is inclined to slavery, at 
what a little price will it sell its liberty." 

Dem, vol. i. p. 166. 



The Character of Philip. 

" Equally a politician, as a general, he was 
temperate in forming his plans, and rapid in 
the execution ; — Impenetrable in his own coun- 
sels, and master of those of his enemies; — Sa- 
gacious to foresee, and bold to seize the most 
favourable conjunctures ; — Perpetually varying 
his conduct, without ever varying the principles 
upon which he acted :— Embassies, negotiation^ 



122 



treaties, peace, hostilities, compliances, menaces, 
promises and money, were all employed to the 
purposes of his ambition. We shall mention 
only one particular artifice which he invented, 
and 'which hath since been often practised with 
success. Under pretence that the treasury of 
Macedonia was exhausted, he borrowed consi- 
derable sums from all the wealthiest citizens of 
Greece, who from thence became interested in 
his future fortune; and with an appearance 
only of receiving interest for their money, were 
really pensioners of Philip." 

Pref. to Dem. p. xxxviii. 



" Our orator now appears upon the scene in a 
character well worthy of his own great abilities ; 
indeed, of all the powers of eloquence. We behold 
him in personal opposition to, perhaps, the great- 
est prince that ever sat upon a throne ; yet neither 
awed by his power, imposed upon by his artifices, 
or corrupted by his gold. Animated by the love 
of liberty, that noblest of all human passions, he 
stands forth the guardian and defender of his 
country. An equal terror to the tyrant, who 
would enslave her, as to the traitors who would 
betray. Whatever sentiments, that passion can 



123 

inspire; whatever arguments good sense can 
dictate; whatever ideas of highest sublimity, 
his own great genius could conceive, the reader 
will find in the following orations, philippics, 
and olynthiacs. After such a character of them, 
what modest excuse can be made for the trans- 
lator ? He professes, and surely without suspi- 
cion of affectation, his apprehension of sinking 
under the attempt. Yet while he feels the in- 
fluence of the same passions that animate the ori* 
ginal, he will not wholly despair of the trans- 
lation." 

Dem. i. 47- 



" Our orator again reproves the indolence, 
irresolution, inactivity, the fatal procrastination 
of his audience. How sincerely does the trans- 
lator wish that the following proverb could only 
be applied to the Greeks and Romans ! Dum 
Romas consulitur, Saguntum eocpugnatur. While 
the senate consults at Rome, Saguntum is be- 
sieged and taken." 

Bern, i. 135. 



" An evil, most pernicious to a free state, had 
long raged in Athens. The people ', to whom, in 
the last resort, all administrations must appeal. 



124 

and in whom resides the power, and strength, and 
majesty if a nation*, were treated with contempt. 
Advantage was taken of their poverty, to cor- 
rupt their honesty, in giving their votes for 
places and employments. They were intimi- 
dated by menaces, or deceived by promises, or 
seduced by adulation. For they were flattered, 
even while they were despised. In the last ex- 
cess of corruption, they were debauched in their 
sobriety and temperance, by drunken riots and 
luxurious entertainments. From hence, as from 
a first principle of ruin and dissolution, pro- 
ceeded the destruction of Athens and Rome. 
From the same principle will invariably and for 
ever proceed the destruction of all future states." 

Dem. i. 40. 



" The wealth brought into Rome, by ravaging 
and plundering the world, was employed with a 
wantonness almost incredible, in the last ex- 
cesses of extravagance and luxury. These ex- 
cesses vitiated the minds, corrupted the under- 
standings, and broke the resolution of a people, 

* " The collective body of the people form that jury, 
and from their decision there is but one appeal ." 

Junius, vol. i. 165. 



125 



not less glorious for their spirit of liberty, than 
for their conquest of the world. Thus at length 
they were debased to a vileness of slavery un- 
known to the nations whom they had conquered, 

and infamous to all posterity." 

Hor. i. 254. 



cc Let the horrors of this execrable story 
alarm every free people to an attention to the 
first attempts against their liberty. For what 
nation now upon earth can presume to say, 
they would submit only to any certain degree 
of slavery, when the Roman people could be 
thus enslaved to the cruelty of Tiberius, the 
madness of Caligula, the stupidity of Claudius, 
or the impiety of Nero r" * 

Dem. i. p. 168. 

* " If an honest and, Imay truly affirm, a laborious zeal 
for the public service has given me any weight in your 
esteem, let me exhort and conjure you never to suffer 
an invasion of your political constitution , however minute 
the instance may appear, to pass by without a determined 
and persevering resistance. One precedent creates an- 
other. They soon accumulate and constitute a law. What 
yesterday was fact, to-day is doctrine ; examples are sup- 
posed to justify the most dangerous measures, and where 
they do not suit exactly, the defect is supplied by analogy." 

Junius, vol, i. p. 3. 



126 * 

" The patriot nobly sacrifices the reputation 
and interests of the orator to the glory and the 
welfare of his audience. The dignity of his lan- 
guage, the resistless spirit of conviction, the 
pathetic, the sublime, seem unpremeditated ef- 
fects of genius, animated by love of liberty and 
of country." 

Dem. vol. i. p. xlv. 



" His efforts to recover the freedom of his 
country after the death of Philip and Alexander 
may appear, as we are now influenced in our 
judgment by the event, too precipitate and im- 
mature: their strength too disproportioned to 
an enterprize of such importance. Yet if not 
prudent, they were glorious efforts. They sus- 
tain the integrity of his character ; they shew 
that a detestation of tyranny was the actuating 
principle of his life, and love of liberty the pas- 
sion that supported him in death, when he nobly 

" The woman who admits of one familiarity seldom 
knows where to stop, or what to refuse ; and when the 
counsels of a great country give way in a single instance 
—when once they are inclined to submission, every step 
accelerates the rapidity of the descent." 

Junius, vol. ii. p. 186. 



127 

refused to survive the ruin of his country, or 
accept an obligation from its tyrant." 

Dem, vol. i. p.xl . 



" The first intention of this essay was to 
inquire into the principles of political wisdom, 
upon which the various forms of government in 
Greece were founded, and to mark the error 
from which their dissolution proceeded; that, 
possibly, some hints might arise for the preser- 
vation or improvement of our own most excellent 
constitution. Let the writer therefore be for- 
given one reflection here, not wholly foreign to 
his intention, perhaps not unapplicable to the 
present conjuncture of public affairs: that, al- 
though a republican government be greatly 
capable of maintaining its liberty, either against 
the attempts of foreign conquests or domestic 
tyranny, while it preserves the principles of vir- 
tue and equality upon which it is founded, yet 
when its citizens are enervated by luxury and 
pleasure, their morals vitiated by avarice and 
profusion, it is alnost impossible ever to recover 
them to their original severity of discipline and 
manners. If a citizen should arise of courage 
enough to attempt their reformation, the people 
would consider him as their equal, He could 



128 



assume no other power over them, than that of 
persuasion; and the laws he proposed must be 
passed by their own consent, in opposition to 
their prejudices, their passions, and their vices. 
On the contrary, there is a regular subordina- 
tion of powers and influences in a monarchy, of 
mighty effect to preserve it in times of immi- 
nent danger and distress. The prince impresses 
his virtues on his nobility. Their example dif- 
fuses those virtues among the people, who are 
generally taught to admire, and who feel almost 
a natural tendency to imitate the manners of 
their superiors/ ' 

Dem. vol. i. p. xxxvii. 



Our author, in this last extract, introduces a 
reflection, which he says is "not unapplicable to 
the present conjuncture of public affairs." He 
appears to have been considering at the time 
he made this remark, in what way our own con- 
stitution might be improved or preserved ; and 
by what means, one of the people would be best 
able to recover his fellow-subjects from that state 
of debasement, into which luxury and avarice 
had sunk them. From his application of the 
reflection to the present conjuncture of affair S, it 
would appear that he believed such was the de- 






129 

graded state of this country at the time he 
wrote ; — " that its citizens were enervated by 
luxury and pleasure, their morals vitiated by 
avarice and profusion.' ' Then comes the reflec- 
tion — that, in a democracy where all the people 
are equal it would be impossible to reclaim them 
from their vicious propensities. For, " if a citi- 
zen should arise of courage enough to attempt 
their reformation, the people would consider him 
as their equal/' and this would defeat all his 
good intentions, since they would not listen to 
him with respect, nor obey, against their inclina- 
tions, one man, whose influence was tantamount 
only to their own. " He could assume no other 
power over them, than that of persuasion ; and 
the laws he proposed must be passed by their 
own consent, in opposition to their prejudices, 
their passions, and their vices." It is impossi- 
ble, therefore, that he could attain his ends. 

Under a republican form of government the 
people would be safer, and more happy, as long as 
public virtue and the severe simplicity of their pri- 
mitive manners were preserved ; but the moment 
the great mass of the people was tainted with 
corruption, the decline of that state would be 
swift and irremediable. 

This reflection was very naturally accompa- 

K 



ISO 



nied by another: that under an opposite form 
of government, the people might possibly be re- 
stored to something like their original purity of 
morals and behaviour. For, " there is a regular 
subordination of powers and influences in a mo- 
narchy, of mighty effect to preserve it in times 
of imminent danger and distress.** But the be- 
nefit, even then, could only be effected by the 
prince himself setting the example. He is the 
first cause of reformation. u The prince im- 
presses his virtues on his nobility. Their exam- 
ple diffuses those virtues among the people , who 
are generally taught to admire, and who feel a 
natural tendency to imitate, the manners of their 
superiors, S 



The man who sits down to examine the forms 
of other constitutions, with a view to the im- 
provement or preservation of that under which 
he lives,-— and who endeavours ec to mark the 
error from whence the dissolution" of other go- 
vernments has proceeded, — does it not with a 
light mind, but is probably influenced in his in- 
quiry by the most perfect love for his own coun- 
try. He sees that whenever the vices have 
taken root in a land, they have gradually mul- 
tiplied until they overran the whole country, 



131 

and destroyed every thing that was wholesome 
or lovely ; — that under a democracy it was im- 
possible to eradicate the evil, and under a 
monarchy it was difficult, requiring a chain of 
favourable circumstances, which rarely, if ever, 
met together at the time when they were want- 
ed. He looks at his native soil, and sees it 
abound with those vices which will speedily re- 
duce it to a state of utter worthlessness. It is 
the first wish of his heart to be of service to his 
country. In what way can he proceed ? — He is 
a member of that rank in society which has no 
influence over the public mind:* as far there- 
fore as his opinion goes, it will have no conse- 
quence attached to it. He would possess even 
more power under a democratic form of govern- 
ment, than he does in his present circumstances. 
For in that case he might have some chance of 
success from the advantages which public ora- 
tory affords, and from the opportunity he would 
possess of arriving without difficulty at the high- 
est offices in the republic. But, in England he 
must make his appeal to the public eye through 

* " I dedicate to you a collection of letters, written by 
one of yourselves for the common benefit of us all." 

Junius, vol. i, p. 1. 



132 



the medium of the press. He must address him- 
self to the reason. His countrymen can neither 
hear his voice, nor see his action or expression. 
The passions, which are of the first importance 
in a cause like his, are either beyond the power 
of his excitement, or the reach of his control. 

But as the country is governed by a King, 
there would still be one hope left. And as the 
land is filled with noblemen of great influence, 
some little good might surely be expected to 
proceed from them. 

If the person we are now considering could 
be satisfied that his Prince was active and sincere 
in promoting the practice of virtue, or that the 
nobility were uniformly zealous in their attempts 
to amend the morals of the people by the force 
of good example ; it is probable that these con- 
siderations would calm his fears. But it is more 
likely that he who has to complain of the de- 
pravity of the age is convinced that no benefit is 
to be expected from these sources. On the 
contrary, he may think that the immorality arid 
profligacy of the great are the chief causes of 
that laxity of morals which has taken place in 
all the other classes of the community. 

With the conviction on his mind that we are 
hastening to a state of moral and political de- 



133 

gradation, from which no hand that is able is 
also willing to save us ; he looks around, and 
finds, in the midst of his despair, one course 
still is open to him, whereby he may possibly 
avert the approaching danger. 

The press furnishes an easy mode of appeal- 
ing to the people, without being personally 
known to them. He accordingly addresses 
them on subjects necessary to be well under- 
stood by all *. 

He sets before them the origin of their liber- 
ties j he explains the nature of their invalu- 
able constitution ; he shews them the folly of 
their credulity, the danger of their indifference, 
the madness oi their venality ; he tells them 
what course they must pursue to retrieve^ their 
errors, and points out the path which they must 
take to avoid them for the future ; he places 
before them the glory of their ancestors, the 
misery and slavery of their posterity ; by every 
argument in nature that can influence the heart 



" I do not place the little pleasures of life in competi- 
tion with the glorious business of instructing and directing 
the people." 

Letter to Wilkes, vol. i. p. 314. 



•. 



l£4 

6( man, he endeavours to win them to virtue, to 
wisdom, to freedom, and to happiness.* 

Aware of the fruitlessness of all his efforts, 
unless he can impress upon their minds a sense 
of his importance,^ he assumes that character 
in his writings, which is denied to his real situa- 
tion. He speaks as a man of high rank and the 
first consequence. J As the people are " generally 
taught to admire the great," he engages by his 
dignity their reverance for his person. As they 



# (i This is not the cause of faction or of party, or of 

any individual, but the common interest of every man in 

Britain." 

Junius, Dedication, vol. i. p. i. 

f u In my opinion you should not wish to decline the 
appearance of being particularly addressed in that letter. 
It is calculated to give you dignity with the public. 
There is more in it than perhaps you are aware of. De- 
pend upon it, the perpetual union of Wilkes and mob 
does you no service. Not but that I love and esteem the 
mob. It is your interest to keep up dignity and gravity 
besides. I would not make myself cheap by walking the 
streets so much as you do. Verbum sat** 

Letter to Wilkes, vol. i. p. 317. 

$ " Besides every personal consideration, if I were 
known, J could no longer be an useful servant to the 
public. At present there is something oracular in the 
delivery of my opinions, I speak from a recess which no 



135 

" feel a natural tendency to imitate" their supe- 
riors, he stamps on their minds an impression of 
his character. 

Though fortune has denied him the nobility 
of birth, she has given him an elevation of soul to 
look down on titles ; and though she has deprived 
him of the influence which attends on wealth, 
she makes those whom wealth ennobles render 
homage to his talents, and respect to his au- 
thority. 

He strives to improve the great by exhorta- 
tion and praise, by reproof and ridicule, not so 
much for their own sakes as for the value of 
their example. He addresses those especially, 
whose influence in the state* affords them an 
opportunity of secretly undermining the foun- 
dations of our liberty; and when he cannot de- 
ter them from attempting to do wrong, he en- 
deavours to deprive them of that power which 
makes them dangerous. 

Lastly, as kings are the chief authors of good 
and evil to their subjects — the main spring of a 

human curiosity can penetrate, and darkness, we are told, 
is one source of the sublime. The mystery of JUNIUS 
increases his importance." 

Junius, Letter to Wilkes, vol. i. p. 314: 
* " To preserve the whole system, you must correct 
your legislature." 

Ibid. vol. i. p. 6, 



136 

machine that is either a blessing or a curse to 
the nation, he summons all his strength for his 
last, best work; and since he cannot, as a 
prince, communicate the impress of his virtues 
from the highest to the lowest, through all the 
gradations of rank within the kingdom, he goes 
directly to the King himself, and by virtue of his 
invisibility, addresses him in the unexpected lan- 
guage of truth. All that wisdom can dictate, 
and eloquence express, is urged with irresistible 
force upon the heart and understanding of the 
monarch : for he remembers that the improve- 
ment of a whole people is the object to be at- 
tained, and that u clearing the fountain is the 
best and shortest way to purify the stream. "* 

We do not mean to say that such conduct as 
this we have described would necessarily result 
from that reflection which gave birth to our 
theory. But we appeal to the Letters of 
Junius for proofs, that a similar conduct has been 
pursued by a character, in every minute par- 

* Junius, vol. i. p. 293. 

cc If it were my misfortune to live under the inauspi- 
cious reign of a prince, whose whole life was employed in 
one base contemptible struggle with the free spirit of the 
people, or in the detestable endeavour to corrupt their 
moral principles, I would not scruple to declare to him — 
* Sir, you alone are the author of the greatest wrong to 
your subjects, and to yourself.' " 

Junius, vol. i. 42. and vol. ii. 64. 



137 

ticular resembling that which has been drawn ; 
and we think that such conduct was more likely 
to proceed from the author of the foregoing 
reflection than from any other person. 

If we are correct in our opinion, that the 
ideal character of Junius was suggested by the 
last of our quotations from Dr. Francis; and 
if the theory w 7 e have laid down be applicable 
to the whole of the conduct pursued by Junius $ 
it will necessarily follow, that the real author of 
those letters, to be consistent with his first inten- 
tion, must for ever remain unknown to the 
public. — Owing his influence among the people 
to the impression he has left on their minds, that 
he was a man of high rank, who had no other 
opportunity of speaking his real sentiments 
without danger to himself or his connections; 
possessing his ascendancy over the Court and 
the Qihcers of btate only so long as it was 
suspected that he was himself a great personage 
in disguise, he must have resolved that his secret 
should die with him, if he sincerely desired that 
his country should derive benefit from his la- 
bours. All hib power of doing good would 
cease, according to his own niost excellent 
observation, as soon as it was discovered that he 
was only one of the people. He must, there- 
fore, resign ail hopes of advantage during his 

L 



i* 



138 

life, and of honour after death. All the vanity 
of authorship must be suppressed; and the 
glorious hopes of immortal fame, which have 
animated other great minds to perform splendid 
actions, and accomplish laborious undertakings, 
must be sacrificed at the shrine of public 
utility. — In the language of Dr. Francis, the 
man who wrote these Letters has dedicated to 
the nation, not his work, but its author; not 
his eloquence, but his understanding and his 
heart! Other men have offered up their lives 
for the welfare of their country, but they have 
felt at the time an inexpressible delight in the 
reflection, that they should survive for ever in 
the memory of a grateful posterity. It remained 
for the present age to produce a patriot who 
devoted his fame, as well as his life, to the 
service of his fellow creatures. 

It may naturally be asked, why we so highly 
commend the endeavour of the author to remain 
undiscovered, and yet do our utmost to reveal 
him to the world* We think, and in our own 
hearts are satisfied, that this noble attempt to 
leap unseen into the gulph of oblivion, for the 
preservation of his country, will elevate him in 
the estimation of the people, far more than the 
knowledge of his real situation can depress him; 
and instead of our disclosure tending to detract 



139 

from the weight of his authority, we do not know 
that any act or accident in life can add such 
value to the sentiments of any man, as a sincere 
endeavour to die in support of his principles. 

The reader is now in possession of all the 
circumstances which have impressed us with a 
conviction that Dr, Francis and his son Sir. 
Philip were the authors of the Letters of 
Junius. If he entertains a doubt of the validity 
of our discovery, we request him to take a re- 
view of the whole of the evidence we have of- 
fered; and since he has formed his judgment of 
the weight of each individual circumstance in 
succession, let him now consider and estimate 
the aggregate value of the mass. Should he 
still hesitate to admit of our conclusion, we must 
request his attention to some further evidence 
which we shall speedily have the pleasure to 
submit to his inspection. 



THE END. 









T. DAVISON, Lombard-street, 
Whitefriars, London. 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS #1 



020 661 508 4 



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